Jump Start
by AllysonH
Summary: Brennan is now in her second trimester and so her pregnancy should be easier, right? But with so many people back in her life and her new relationship with Booth, there are many adjustments to make. Starts where Hiatus left off, but can be read alone.
1. Week 13, day 0

**Jump Start **

_Ally's Note: I used to update Hiatus every day, which is something I can't manage anymore, but I'll do my best to stick around as much as I can here. I'm very excited to write this second trimester, as I really enjoyed writing Hiatus. I'm currently modeling in Greece and Italy, so my schedule is rather hectic and unpredictable, and I'm a little preoccupied with my Diabetes that got out of control the minute I set foot in Greece, but via Twitter I will always keep you posted on any updates. I'm AllysonHale, easy as pie, right?_

_This is an M-rated story, because I was really pushing and stretching the T-rating with my last story and I just really want to write what I want because I'm stubborn and wrong and not willing to censor to fit into a teen-category._

_Those who have not read Hiatus, I encourage you to give this a try. I'm all open for critiques, flames and suggestions (praise too, naturally). I try to reply as much as I can to everyone. Now that I have more time in between chapters, I should actually manage that. So, if you think it's obvious my beta-reader died (actually, I never had one) or that I wrote terribly because the battery of my laptop died and I forgot to pay the electricity bill again (that's why my whole life is charged by automatic collection), you may tell me. _

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><p>Week 13, day 0<p>

_~To my Twitter friend Courtney_Mae, for being persistent, kicking my butt from time to time and not letting me forget that I signed up to be a devoted fanfic writer~_

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><p>Brennan ticked her fingertips on the table impatiently as she studied the menu of the diner. Truth be told, she knew it so well that she really did not need this plastic to tell her the diner availabilities, but today was different. She was sitting alone at a table and she was thinking about breaking the rules. She had been craving a cup of coffee so bad, which she has been refusing herself ever since finding out she was pregnant and now that Booth had not arrived yet, she actually had an opportunity to do it. She traced the letters with her pinky finger. '<em>Coffee (black) - $1,90'. <em>Brennan looked around the area conspiratorially. If she wanted to do it, she had to order it now. Anyone could step in here any minute and reprimand her.

The waitress of the diner approached her slowly. She had a friendly face and gave Brennan a kind smile when she stopped to stand in front of her table. "Is there anything I can get you already?" Now, was her time! Brennan swallowed and looked back down at her menu.

"I'd like a coffee..." She replied, overwhelmed by the irrational surge of adrenaline that suddenly ripped through her. "Decaf, please." She mentally kicked herself. The waitress nodded while Brennan stared ahead of herself in frustration. She just could not do it. Half a year ago, she did not care if she defied Booth. Now, she could not bring herself to do it anymore. Maybe it was everything he did to please her and to keep her and the baby healthy, but she felt that she could not scheme him like this. After all, she wanted her baby to turn out well too and 'not potentially scar or dehydrate the brain prematurely for a shot of caffeine'? No Booth, she did not want to scar or dehydrate a brain.

"Would you like something to eat as well?" Brennan thought for a while.

"A piece of apple pie with whipped cream, please." For Booth, not for herself. She was not hungry; she was only craving a certain liquid at this time around. When the waitress walked away again, Brennan turned her head to look outside again, watching all the cars passing by and couples strolling down the sidewalk while holding hands. "He can order his own damned coffee."

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><p>Fifteen minutes passed and Booth still had not arrived. Brennan was staring outside the window, looking at someone bending down to place a bouquet of flowers near a lamppost. The woman had a melancholy look on her face as she stood back up and stared at the other items surrounding the post. A kid had died here two months ago, Brennan knew. She had often watched youngsters on their scooters stop there to place a beer bottle on their nights out. Sometimes, when she drove by, she saw candles that were lit. People had made a memorial in the middle of the street, a shrine for someone who had failed to look around before crossing a road. Brennan felt her heart sink in her chest. She understood their need for it now. Someone who was so suddenly torn away from everybody's lives left an empty spot and people wanted to feel better by getting as close to the deceased as they possibly could.<p>

Brennan bit her lip. She had to be grateful for everything she had. She was going to have a baby in a little over six months. Booth was as involved as he possibly could and in fact, she felt quite content with her life right now. Work was quite okay as she did not have to keep her pregnancy a secret anymore and she felt quite at ease in her relationship with Booth. They were going to live together, they had decided, and her whole life was going to change, but she looked forward to that. The woman outside raised her head and slowly walked away as the wind carefully tugged at the petals of the flowers that she left. Her life had probably changed too, but rather with the loss of a person… Brennan shook her head to rid herself of the sad thoughts that were starting to pop up in her head.

Booth was going to be here any second. She checked her cellphone again, but he had not texted her. No news was good news, right? Just because they were together now, did not mean that she had to know what he did or where he was every waking minute. Brennan started poking at the apple pie which she had ordered for Booth, with the tiny silver fork that the waitress had brought over. Despite all her cravings, pie was still not appetizing to her. Maybe it would be if it was covered in peanut butter. The corner of Brennan's mouth tugged up into a small smile.

"Temperance Brennan, I thought I'd find you here!" The familiar voice made Brennan drop the fork instantly and she hesitantly trailed her eyes up to look up to its owner. He stood as confident as ever, with one hand placed casually on his hip and the other one placed on the chair on the opposite side of her table. Brennan opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. His skin looked slightly tanned and his hair was a little shorter than the last time she had seen him, but it was unmistakably him. In a Booth-like FBI suit. Brennan was too flabbergasted to do or say much of anything. "Mind if I sit down?" He did not await an answer as he pulled the chair back and flopped himself down on it.

When Brennan finally got over the first initial shock, the first thing she did was narrow his eyes at him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

He did not even flinch as he put both his hands on the table, palms facing upwards. "I came back for you, like I had promised I would." Brennan cocked her head to the side. For her? After all these years? Now? "I want to ask you to marry me."

"Get out, Sully."

A silence passed between them that was uncomfortable for both parties and Brennan hoped Booth would stay away for another couple of minutes, so she could get him to leave in time. Former FBI Agent Tim Sullivan furrowed his brow together, obviously not understanding her response. "I only said that I wanted to propose to you. I'm not insulting you!" Brennan felt her hands started to shake and she hid them in her lap, under the table. He did insult her. Who did he think he was? What made him believe that she had spent the time that he had gone out sailing missing him, waiting for him like a dog waited for his master to come home?

"You left four years ago! I have moved on with my life. You can't expect me to just welcome you back after all this time and be thrilled to see you." Brennan fought her hardest to keep her voice under control. She was not a sad little puppy and just ten minutes ago she had made up her mind that her life was great…without his interference. "I have some things to do and some things to discuss with someone. I'm—" She was about to enlighten him on the fact that she was pregnant, before she realized that it was none of his business. "You should leave."

Sully said nothing and his gaze dropped to the piece of pie resting on the table between them. "You've changed."

Brennan could not do anything but shrug her shoulders in defeat. He was right about that, after all. "I have," she agreed. "I'm more happy now."

"I'm glad." Sully reached out with his hand for her across the table, but Brennan did not take it. She just looked at it while a whirlwind of emotions surged through her. Why him? Why now? Why could he not have stayed away with his boat and built a hut in some faraway place that meant nothing to her. "I just want you to know, you should realize that I never forgot about you. I've missed you while we were apart. All these years. I did not come back sooner because I was a coward. I was scared you might hate me—"

Brennan raised both of her eyebrows. "Oh, I never hated you." She saw a relief wash over him and his body relaxed back in his chair. "I just don't like you anymore."

"I've never stopped liking you," Sully admitted, trying to look deep into her eyes, but she kept blinking defiantly. A strong wind came up outside and it blew a piece of paper against the window. Brennan flinched away from it. The paper was a black-and-white photo of the young man that had been killed outside on the road: _James Thomas; 1984-2011_. His smiling eyes on the photo seemed to want to penetrate her soul and warn her: 'I was caught in an accident. So could you. Beware of your every step.'

Brennan forced herself to look back to Sully when the paper blew away again, racing along through the street. "I just don't understand what it is that you want from me." She suddenly felt exasperated and her patience was quickly running out. If Booth came in now, he would be able to tell from her face that she was tired and he would spent the rest of the time trying to talk her into going to bed. Alone.

Sully leaned in a little closer over the table and Brennan fought the urge to shove her chair back. "I think I've been very clear on that. I want you to give us another try."

"You think marriage is 'giving it another try'?" Brennan shook her head. What he wanted was to hear that she had waited for him, but he was too clueless to understand that life did not work that way. People only waited for each other during war or in novels, movies and fairytales. Not when one of them took a sabbatical and the other was left to herself working her metaphorical butt off. "Look, I feel like you've made me a pion in your half-life crisis and it's making me very uncomfortable. Like I said, I'm very busy at the moment."

Sully smiled. "What I think you mean to say is midlife-crisis, Temperance. Half-life is a term used in science, but midlife refers to—" He trailed off when he saw her frustrated expression on her face.

"I don't have time for—"

"Love?" He questioned. Brennan gasped involuntarily and glared at him. He did not even seem to want to listen to her. He had hurt her when he announced that he would be leaving. She could recall the painful stab at her heart which she had felt at that time when she waved him off at the harbor. How could he be so delusional to think that she would forget about all that and that the feelings of resentment would convert themselves back into fondness?

"Sully, my man!" Brennan looked up towards the entrance of the diner, while Sully turned himself around. She sighed when _finally _there was Booth in the same room with her, however she was less thrilled that he himself did seem very happy to see his old colleague again. Sully got up from his chair and opened his arms so he could give Booth a friendly pat on the back as he approached them. "I heard you were back in town!"

Brennan suddenly felt her blood run cold and her heart skip a beat. He was back, for good? She had hoped he would just go back to his boat after she had managed to usher him out of here.

Sully smiled amicably at Booth, who winked quickly at Brennan before placing both of his hands on his hips and listening to Sully talking to him. "I am, Booth. I am. Three days in, and today I spoke to the FBI to ask if maybe I could get my old job back."

"Good for you! What did they say?" Brennan looked at the two suited men in front of her incredulously. Booth knew all about her previous relationship with Sully, so why was he standing there like Sully was his best buddy when he should be wary of the advances he was making on his girlfriend behind his back?

Sully laughed lightly. "They said they would be in touch. I know. Cliché, right?" Both men grinned at each other.

Although Brennan was relieved to find out that he had not received a permanent position with the FBI – not yet, anyway – she did feel the need to rid herself of his presence for the moment. She wanted to be alone with Booth, who she really did love and really did want to spent her life with. She cleared her throat, catching their attention at once. "Booth, Sully was just leaving." Brennan narrowed her eyes at Sully again, conveying the message that if he so much as dared to deny that, she would make his extended time here extremely unpleasant.

He did pick up on her signal, but so did Booth who raised a questioning eyebrow at her. Sully took a deep breath. "She's right, you know. I still have some stuff to do to settle back down here." His voice trailed off slightly and Booth could instantly tell that Brennan had something to do with this sudden change in atmosphere. "But it was good seeing you again, Booth, Temperance." He nodded his head slightly in Brennan's direction.

"I guess we'll be seeing you around , huh?" Booth asked, feeling a bit unsure about what to say. He liked Sully, Booth thought he was a nice man, but Brennan obviously disagreed with him. Truth be told, he could not really blame her. He was the one who got to cheer her up after his immediate departure.

Sully flashed them one last smile. "You definitely will." He straightened his jacket and stepped besides Booth. "Enjoy the rest of your evening. Goodnight!"

"Yeah, 'bye." Booth greeted him as Sully turned around and walked off. Brennan watched his every step until he closed the door of the diner behind himself, before she got up from her chair and stepped closer to Booth. "Hey, Bones," he spoke softly as she placed both of her hands against his chest. She swallowed nervously.

"Booth…" was all she managed to say before she leaned into him and pressed her lips against his roughly. She fisted his dress shirt to pull him closer towards her possessively. The waitress that had served Brennan her decaf coffee paused in her stride to look at them with a knowing smile. She had watched them dance around each other for God-only-knows-how-long-exactly. It was about time.

Booth let out a muffled groan as Brennan attempted to force his lips apart with her own and deepen the kiss. Even though he was all for public displays of affection, he knew this was spiraling out of control and they also had to be careful that members of the FBI would not pick up on them. He reached up to cradle the sides of her face in his hands and gently pull himself away from her. "Bones, don't get me wrong. I love it when you kiss me like that, but what's wrong?"

Brennan's lips parted and she looked away from Booth's face. Oh, where would she start? Thirteen weeks into her pregnancy she still felt like she was constantly battling caffeine withdrawal. She was still spotting and even though she read on many pregnancy websites that it was normal up until her twentieth week, it still bothered her. Not to mention that she felt really upset about Sully waltzing back into her life like he had not missed a thing and actually expecting her to feel grateful for his return too. Yet, she had to think about that kid that died too, the grieving people that passed by every day and the content feeling that she had had earlier on. "Not so much, but enough for me anyway."

Booth slid his hands down her shoulders to rest them on her upper arms. "Come on, let's sit you down first, alright?" Brennan let Booth direct her back to her chair and she sat down, while Booth took Sully's former seat. "What did Sully say?"

Brennan took a deep breath. "He wanted me back." Much to her surprise, she saw Booth's lips curve up into a smile and that did not sit well with her. "Why does that appear to be so amusing to you?" She exclaimed to him, meanwhile shoving the plate with pie out towards him.

"Because I know that he doesn't stand a chance and therefore his efforts are useless," Booth answered, gratefully taking a forkful of apple pie and bringing it to his mouth. "Did you tell him about us?"

Brennan shook her head. "I couldn't. He was wearing a suit, like you. If he worked for the FBI again, he would have passed the information on to your boss and they would not let us work together anymore." That ' no-fraternizing-with-consultants-rule' was surely going to cause more problems as soon as Brennan would be more visibly pregnant and people would start asking questions. "And I just wanted him to go away."

Booth saw how tense her shoulders were and how she tightened her jaw. He could read her like a book almost, even when she was trying so hard not act vulnerable around him. "So why are you so angry now?"

Brennan was glad when the waitress returned to ask them if they would like to order another drink, so that she had some time to gather her thoughts. "Because he spoke to me about marriage." Booth snorted and Brennan started to feel slightly irritated with him. "He left me behind years ago and now he suddenly decides he wants me to be his wife? You don't leave your spouse! That's wrong!" Brennan exhaled slowly, trying to keep herself under control. "And I only want to get married to you..." She then realized what she had just said and quickly added "…eventually."

"Bones…" Booth started. "None of that matters. Sully doesn't even matter."

"Yes, he does!"

"No, he doesn't. You know why? Because we are still the center, okay? We slept together, you got pregnant right after and whether or not that is a sign of the universe is not even the point. We held. We got together because of it and now we are couple who are looking for a place together. We're still holding. Your team misread all the pregnancy signs and thought you were sick and we had to come clean about us in Sweets' office. We got through that too." Brennan was frowning, even when she received her cup of tea and the smell of Booth's coffee enticed her from across the table. "I can tell you the easy difference between now and all these years ago, alright? Are you ready for it?"

Booth actually paused to make her look up into his eyes when he was going to speak the next couple of words. Brennan nodded when she did. "It's because you're no longer an impervious substance, but we are an impervious substance together."

Brennan gave his words some thought, all the while never taking his eyes off of him. "You're right," she said truthfully. "We are."

Booth held up his fork in the air as if it was the item that held all the answers for them. "So, whether there's a Sully, Jason the botanist or a Hannah really doesn't matter. None of them can damage what we have." As soon as he spoke these words, he diverted his attention back to his pie. Somehow, he had hoped she would start craving that too, but that was apparently only going to happen if it was covered in peanut butter. She even dipped her pickles in it.

Brennan stared into her cup of tea. "I've noticed… you no longer cringe when you say her name."

Booth looked up at his pregnant girlfriend and his face broke out into a small smile. "I no longer need to. She doesn't matter now either." Booth felt underneath the table with his hand, so he could cup her knee in a loving gesture. "But you and our little lime do."

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><p><em>Ally's Note: So I know how I promised blood and gore, but I think this is a more eh… gentler approach when starting a new story. See, I do have empathy for my characters! I have saved the chapter's draft though, so expect to encounter sometime in the not too distant future... <em>

_I don't know when I'll update again exactly, because I won't be home until Saturday and still have some work cut out for me in Italy. Let's hope my bloodsugar will stop playing tricks on my health and my mood and along with your fantastic encouragement, I'm sure you won't have to wait too long. _

_So, anyway, here's a preview to the next chapter: Rebecca has asked Booth to meet up with her because she has something she wants to discuss with him. I would spoil all the fun if I defined 'something', so you are free to speculate away, rattle me in reviews or nag me on Twitter (AllysonHale). I'm ready! _


	2. Week 13, day 1

**Jump Start**

_Ally's Note: I'm back doing my last days of modeling in Italy, so my life is good and I actually found myself some time to write Jump Start. I think I'll participate in November's NaNoWriMo, fanfiction style. Which means I'll spam you guys with updates again. Isn't that the way you like it?_

_Notice up front: this chapter has not been looked over by yours truly before posting due to lack of time. Any embarrassing grammar or spelling errors are mine, because the weather and the mosquitoes got to me._

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><p><strong>Week 13, day 1<strong>

_~To my Twitter friend cleaninggirl, for never ever forgetting me on a Friday AND for *ahem* directing her followers to this story~_

_~Not dedicated to the crazy Italians who are crossing on cars and motorbikes outside and distracting me with their insistent horn-blowing to make themselves look awesome.~_

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><p>Booth checked his reflection for the third time in five minutes on the mirror in his hallway. He had Parker today and he wanted to look casual for a nice game of soccer with him out in the park, but he did not want to look like a slob either. Brennan came up behind him, rubbing her hair that was still wet from the shower with her right hand. Her left hand was in a cast, because she broke it during a fall a couple of weeks ago. Booth smiled at her in the mirror, which Brennan reflected with one of her own. "You can stop worrying about your appearance, Booth, it's just a Saturday with your son. Not a meeting with your boss. "<p>

Booth turned around to face her and approached her slowly, making her drop the towel from her hair. "Yes, but afterwards I want to spent some time with you." She recognized the playful sound in his voice when he stepped out in front of her and her eyes involuntarily dropped down to his lips.

"I kind of like it when you're messy." Booth wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands on her lower back.

"Oh, you do, huh?" Booth carefully pushed her back until he had her cornered against the wall. She closed her eyes when his face leaned in towards hers and their lips collided against each other. Booth's hands travelled lower until he reached the hem of her shirt and slid his hands underneath it, so his fingertips met the skin of her bare back. Booth gently nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth. "Is this messy enough for you?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Not even close."

Booth was about to really play dirty by grabbing her hips and lifting up from the ground, but the second his thumbs slid down to rest on her hipbones, the doorbell rang. "Damn it," Booth groaned out, resting his forehead against Brennan's. He would have loved to finish this game with her, but on the other hand he was glad that they had not… advanced too far into it yet.

Brennan chuckled softly and pecked his lips one last time before gently pushing him back from her. She teasingly reached up to his forehead with her moist towel and pretended to wipe the sweat off. "I think you should get that."

"I think you're right." The magnetic electricity between them was almost palpable in the air as they gave each other a sly grin. Another ring from the doorbell managed to disturb the crackling atmosphere between them and Brennan patted his chest as she walked away and into his living room. Booth smirked when she swayed her hips just a little bit more than necessary as she did so. "Alright! I'm coming!" Booth called out, before turning himself around to give himself one last look-over in the mirror. Brennan had managed to mess up his hair again in a matter of seconds and he tried to fix it by running his hands through it a couple of time. He straightened his clothing and walked towards the door.

As soon as he opened the door, a pair of arms attached themselves to his midsection. "Daddy!" His young son greeted him. Booth smiled and knelt down to give him a proper hug.

"Parker! Hey, buddy!" As he embraced him, Booth looked up towards Rebecca standing next to him. "Hi Becca, how are you?" He noticed how serious her face was, as opposed to the usual friendly smile that she gave him whenever she came to drop their son off. Booth felt a nervous flutter in his gut and he stood up straight as he let go of Parker. She met his eyes and she swallowed nervously. "Is something wrong?"

Rebecca shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong. Not really, anyway…" but her voice trailed off and she broke eye contact with Booth to look down the hall. Booth bend his head forward, waiting for more to come. "I was just wondering… could we talk?" Rebecca bit her lip gently as she asked him this.

Booth nodded. "Sure, uh…," he turned around to face his living room, but Brennan was nowhere in sight. Booth smiled at Rebecca. "Just a minute, Becks." He took a few steps backwards and raised his voice. "Bones?"

Parker's eyes lit up at once. "Bones is here? Where is she?" With a big smile across his face, he ran past his father and into the living room, on a quest to find her.

Booth chuckled. "Well, I guess that's taken care of." He turned his attention back to Rebecca. "Do you want to come in? We can talk in the kitchen…" He had no idea where Bones was hiding out, but talking in the bedroom with Rebecca seemed a little inappropriate. Rebecca gave him a gentle smile and nodded.

"Okay." Booth stepped to the side to let her in and closed the door behind her. Rebecca knew the way to his kitchen, but nevertheless she waited for him to lead the way. Booth frowned; obviously there was something weird going on. Normally she did not hesitate to walk around his apartment as if it was her home.

In the kitchen, Brennan was talking to Parker at the kitchen table. He was squeezing the cast of her arm and knocked it when he found it did not budge at all. "Can you feel any of that?" he asked. Brennan shook her head with a smile. At least someone was having fun with it. Parker noticed the smiley face that Booth had drawn on it, to cheer her up on one of the many times she had become fed up with the obstacle. "Oh! Can I write something on it too?" Parker exclaimed excitedly.

"Sure," Brennan replied, looking around the kitchen. Now where did he put that damned marker? At that moment, Rebecca and Booth entered the kitchen and Brennan eyes traveled from Booth to Rebecca and then back to Booth. "Hi Rebecca. Booth, did you need me for anything?"

Oh, he needed her for lots of thing: walks in the park, arguments over nothing, kissing in the- "No, I just called you to ask if you could take Parker to the living room and play a video game or something while I talk to Rebecca, but I see you two already found each other." Booth grinned at her, which was a sharp contrast to Rebecca, who looked very uneasy. Brennan got up from the chair, not quite knowing if she should ask Rebecca if she was okay or if she should just leave them be. She decided for the latter.

"Alright. Let's go, Parker. You can sign my cast there." Parker happily hopped down from the chair and ran ahead of her. Brennan was slightly slower and she picked up her wet towel from the kitchen table and glanced at Booth questioningly. He shook his head. Nothing to worry about.

As soon as they were both gone, Rebecca sat down at the table and Booth walked towards the refrigerator. "Can I get you anything? A soda, beer…coffee?"

"Just a glass of water would be great, please." Rebecca said. She leaned forward, resting her head on palm as she placed her elbow on the table. She kind of reminded him of Brennan when she woke up in the morning and felt sick. Booth felt concerned for her as he took a bottle of cooled water out of the fridge and placed it down in front of her. He turned around to fetch her a glass and to turn on the coffeemaker. He was going to need his caffeine today.

When Booth sat down at the table on the opposite side of her, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's going on, Rebecca?"

She took a deep and nervous breath as she reached for the water bottle. "Nothing bad, Seeley, really. I just don't know… I haven't talked to anyone else about this yet, so it's odd." She tried to unscrew the cap from the bottle, but she did not manage. Booth took it from her and opened it with a little bit strength. He retreated his arms back to his body immediately.

"You're not moving even further away with Parker, are you?"

She shook her head. Her blonde hair fell forward with her movement. "No, Seeley, it's just… You know how things are between me and Brent…," Booth thought she was going to say more, but when she did not, he shrugged his shoulders.

"No, I don't." He did not want to be one of these separate parents who would inquire about the other parent through their child every time they saw each other. He carefully made sure that he did not ask Parker too many questions about how things were at home. He wanted to hear all the difficult and burdening stuff from Rebecca and not make Parker feel like he was caught between two fires.

Rebecca drew her hair back and poured herself a glass of cooled water. "They've been good. Great, actually, which is why he asked me to marry him." She took a sip from the glass while trying to determine Booth's current state of mind. His expression was blank, so she had no idea what this information was doing to him. "And I said yes."

Booth was momentarily caught off guard and he needed a moment to think about what he was going to say. Rebecca, the mother of his firstborn, the woman who had once turned his proposal down because she wanted to be independent, was going to get married. To Captain Fantastic. It figured. "Wow, Becca…"

She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to give some kind of hint as to how he was feeling about this. Truth was that he did not know what he was supposed to feel. Was he supposed to be hurt or offended? Was he supposed to be glad for her? Or was he supposed to be really happy for himself too, because it meant that women could indeed change their mind about marriage and therefore Brennan could too? He instantly decided he was not hurt of offended. His relationship with Rebecca had been over for years and he was currently very happy with his Bones. "Congratulations," he said to her and he actually meant it. "When is the big day?"

"Well…," he saw her bite the inside of her cheek. Wait, there was more she had to tell him? "It's kind of soon, in only five weeks." Booth had to give her that: it was very soon. He looked down at her right hand and only now did he notice the small golden engagement ring around her finger. It had a small green diamond on it; her favorite color.

Booth inhaled sharply. "Is there a reason—"

"I'm pregnant," she said. "Thirteen weeks. If we wait another half a year, I won't properly fit in a dress anymore." Booth suddenly remembered a similar confession five weeks ago. _I'm pregnant. You're the father_.

"Woah, wait! _You're_ pregnant?"

Rebecca, not comprehending his emphasis on the word 'you' furrowed her eyebrows together in indignation. "Why does that shock you so much? I'm still young enough, you know?"

"No, I know, I know. It's just that…" Oh God, now he would have to come clean too! He had really not prepared for any of this. "Bones… Temperance, she's pregnant too."

Rebecca's jaw dropped open and she looked at Brennan sitting in the living room, with her arm resting on a side table. Parker was sitting on the opposite side, penning on her cast with a felt marker. "Is that why she's here? 'Cause you're the father?" When Booth did not say anything, she smiled. "I didn't even know you two were together."

Booth grinned. Talking about this with everybody else was embarrassing, but he and Rebecca had gone through their fair share of memorable experiences and he knew she would understand. "We weren't. A colleague died, we were upset and we were not thinking consciously. It was just one night in which she fell pregnant." Booth realized how much that sounded like he had just knocked his girlfriend in high school up. Luckily, Rebecca grinned back knowingly.

"And of course, you're going to step up and be a father."

"Yes."

She cocked her head to the side. "Do you want to be a husband too?"

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "After all these years, I know her better than to do a hasty proposal. She doesn't believe in marriages like that." Rebecca watched as Brennan reached out with her good hand to ruffle through Parker's hair. "We are together as a couple right now and for now, it is enough. Even for me."

Rebecca smiled warmly. "Good for you, Seeley. That's a unique level of respect."

Booth smiled back before getting up from his chair and walking to the coffeemaker. "So, tell me, when are you due?"

Rebecca sat back in her chair, relieved that all of the secrets were out now. "The first day of Christmas. What's Temperance's date?" She poured herself some more water and looked as Brennan pulled a book from Booth's shelf to show Parker. She brought it over to the sofa and flipped through the pages as Parker sat down next to her. She was quite good with him, Rebecca could tell that even from a distance.

"December 29th. You two are only four days apart!" Booth eyes travelled down Rebecca's body. She was wearing a white shirt which widened at the bottom, effectively hiding any evidence of a baby bump. He remembered she used to do the same with Parker. Like Brennan, she wanted to be seen for the strong personality that she was and not be labeled as 'The Pregnant Woman'. Than something hit him: "You two are not going to bond over this, are you? Like comparing food cravings, supportive fathers and my skills in bed?"

Rebecca widened her eyes. "That is actually a really good idea! I don't have a pregnant friend at the moment." When she noticed Booth's pained expression, she chuckled. "Don't worry, what we did in the bedroom stays between you and me. She can form an opinion about your skills on her own." Booth walked back with his cup of strong coffee and sat down again. "Parker likes her. If you want to come to my wedding, you should bring her."

"You want me at your wedding?" Booth asked incredulously.

"Of course. You're the father of my son and it's not like we don't keep in touch with each other." Booth nodded. Through the years, he often spoke to Rebecca when she dropped Parker off or even on the phone if there was anything that concerned him. Even though Rebecca had sole custody over Parker and Booth's parental rights were very limited, she did her best to include him in Parker's life and education.

"I'd like that. Send me an invite and I'll be there. With Bones." He took a large sip of his coffee and looked over at Brennan and Parker in the living room. "She's showing him what bone she broke in a medical encyclopedia."

Rebecca frowned. "What happened to her anyway?"

"She fainted due to dehydration and then hit her arm on something as she fell down. She may be an expert when it comes to bones of dead people, but it took me days to convince her to go to a doctor. By that time, her arm was showing all colors of the rainbow and then it turned out to be broken."

* * *

><p>Brennan said something to Parker, before she got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. She hesitantly knocked on the wall before entering the kitchen. Both Booth and Rebecca looked up at her. "Um, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything. It's just that…Parker would like a glass of lemonade. If I can get it, then I'll leave right after." She cradled her cast with her right arm. The blue was now covered by black figures dancing across the surface.<p>

"It's okay, Bones. I'll get it for you, but we're done here anyway," Booth got up from his chair again and went back to the fridge. Brennan stepped inside the kitchen and waited.

Rebecca looked at her. She had seen her on more than one occasion, but the fact that she was now the girlfriend of her son's father somehow put her in a different light. She was a beautiful woman with a friendly face. Her hair was nearly dry now, but her shirt was damp at the back. If you knew that she was pregnant, you could tell that there was a tiny bump on her lower abdomen. If you did not know, you would say that she had a normal body that was not entirely flat. "What did he do to you?" Rebecca asked her.

"Huh?" Brennan had been too busy staring at Booth that she had not noticed Rebecca looking at her.

Rebecca pointed at her cast. "Your arm. What did Parker mark you with?"

Finally, Brennan felt more confident to come closer and she stepped up towards Rebecca. She held out her left arm and pointed at the different figures. "This is his signature, that is the sun, which a boy called Justin Bieber is shooting at with a gun. Over there is a…I can't remember what it's called, but it's some sort of animal and he's trying to attack Justin to save the sun."

"A Pokémon?" Rebecca suggested.

"Yes, that's it! And that over there is Booth in his car. He is going to save Justin from the animal and then lock him up, because shooting the sun is against the law." Brennan laughed, a sincere and open laugh that Booth recognized as the one she reserved for occasions in which she really enjoyed herself.

Rebecca laughed with her until they both fell silent. "Hey, congratulations to you and Seeley." Brennan felt touched when she looked up at Rebecca. Somehow, she had believed that talking to one of his ex-girlfriends would be more complicated. Back in the day when he was seeing Hannah, it had been quite difficult for her to wear a smile on her face all the time, but Rebecca seemed really sincere.

"Thank you," Brennan said. "Parker told me that you're giving him a brother or a sister too, so congratulations to you too."

Rebecca smiled. Booth handed Brennan a glass of lemonade as well as a glass of tomato juice for herself. She glared at him when he smiled triumphantly at her, because he knew that she was forgetting to drink enough again and she knew that he was enjoying 'taking care of her'. "Bones, Rebecca is due four days before you are." He enlightened her, trying to clear the air again.

"You are?" Brennan questioned. Rebecca nodded in reply. "Since you've been pregnant before, do you have any advice for me? Are there any things I should do to make it…easier?"

Rebecca thought hard to herself. Pregnancy was mostly a matter of taking good care of yourself and waiting it out, but then she thought of something. "Buy yourself a cream or oil against scarring. If you start putting it on now, twice a day, on your chest and your stomach area, you won't get terrible stretch marks."

"Okay, I will do that." Brennan said, feeling genuinely grateful. Booth winked at her, before she turned around again and walked back to Parker.

Rebecca finished drinking her water and looked back up at Booth. "I know she feels insecure and uncertain, but I think she will be a really great mother. She loves you, too. I can tell by the way that she looks at you. That annoyed look she threw you just now actually means appreciation, you know?"

Booth nodded. "I know. That's just the way we communicate. We disagree, we bicker, we end up in bed at inappropriate times. We never did things by the books."

Rebecca shrugged her shoulders. "I'm trying to, this time."

Booth nodded his head. "Yes, you are. I hope he makes you happy, Becks."

She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you, Seeley. Take care."

"I'll bring him back at eight," Booth suggested, walking her to the door. She nodded goodbye and then left. Booth closed the door behind her and then walked into the living room. Parker was sitting on the couch next to Brennan. They had turned on the television and Parker was holding a controller while he steered a man across the desert.

"Daddy, daddy! Bones just solved a puzzle! You know, the one we spent ages on and still couldn't understand? She unlocked the new level in just two minutes!" Brennan got up from the couch and walked around it to get to Booth, who was standing in the doorpost.

Shrugging her shoulders, she stepped closer to him. "I was just pressing a few buttons. It was no big deal at all." She looked up at him innocently, very aware of the intense gaze that he had fixed upon her.

Yet, it was a big deal, because a year ago, she only would have commented on how disproportionate the character on the screen looked. A year ago, she would not have wasted time playing a video game, but spent her Saturdays in the lab, looking at bones. So Booth thought it was a very big deal and he thanked her in the only way that would make her understand that. He kissed her.

* * *

><p><em>Ally's Note: I think there are plenty of fics out there that portray Rebecca like a bitch. Sometimes to the extent that it seems her sole purpose in life is to make Booth miserable. So that is exactly why I chose a likable Rebecca, who actually moved on with her life, just like Booth has.<em>

_Thank you, everyone, for the lovely and warm welcome (back). What greater motivation could I get, as a writer, than positive response from you readers? I enjoyed reading the reviews and the tweets and I hope I managed to answer some of your questions. _

_Next chapter may be posted tomorrow (if you REALLY want me to drive for half an hour for internet that costs €3,50 per half an hour, haha!) or the day after: This chapter will have an M and a T-version, because things get a little hot. Booth is doing the laundry. Boring, you would think, but then he discovers something about Brennan. A confrontation ensues… _


	3. Week 13, day 2 Rated T

**Jump Start**

_Ally's Note: This is the T-rated version for those of you who have told me not to be interested in the uncensored scenes. Don't worry, you're not missing out on anything else. _

**Week 13, day 2**

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><p>Seeley Booth loved Sundays. There was something about the day that made the entire atmosphere seem more relaxed. This was partly contributed due to the fact that he did not have to go to work, but mostly because he had his own ritual. He would get up early in the morning and go to church. He would leave as quietly as he could, hoping that Brennan would sleep in, but nine out of ten times he would find her freshly-showered, sitting at the breakfast table upon his return. He avoided shopping on a Sunday, but if Brennan needed anything, he would not hesitate to go and get it for her. On Sundays, he would do his cleaning, the laundry and maybe watch a game in the evening. Today was no different.<p>

When he came home from mass, he found Brennan in a very cuddly state, which was highly unusual for her. Sometimes it would be hard for him to determine where she ended and her pregnancy hormones began. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, she walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are your rules about Sunday sex?"

"Good morning to you too, Bones," he laughed as he wrapped his own arms around her back and rubbed it soothingly. She was still wearing the jogging pants that she used to sleep in, but she had traded her tanktop in for a virginal white blouse. She was still so small in his arms. "Can you imagine the day when we won't be able to hold each other close like this anymore?"

She pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes mischievously. She dropped her hands to his chest and stroked him over his neat and crisp white shirt that was part of his Sunday outfit. "I can imagine that. It won't be too long anymore." She cocked her head to the side and leaned in to his face. "Shall I show you how close we can really get if we make an effort?"

Her breath ghosted against his lips and Booth grinned. "What has gotten into you?" It was an open door to all sorts of witty remarks, but she chose to keep them to herself for now and kiss him instead. Her hands slid to the buttons of his blouse, but Booth grabbed them and stilled them. Brennan retreated her hands only to move them to her own chest to open the buttons of her own shirt. Her left hand tried to work with her, but the cast was in the way. Booth opened one eye while he was kissing her to see what she was doing. He quickly broke the kiss and placed both of his hands on either side of his face. "Not now. I still have a lot to do." He pecked her lips and was about to walk away again, but she grabbed him by the belt on his pants and yanked her back to him.

Her breathing was ragged and her eyes looked a little misty. "We can add these clothes to the dirty laundry pile as well as change the sheets. We'll just have some fun while we're doing the laundry." Brennan pressed herself as close against him as she could. "It would just be squatting two mosquitoes in one go."

Booth could feel his defense start to crumble and gave in with a smile. He went for her neck aggressively as he wound one of his hands through her hair, placing sucking kisses from her collarbone up to her earlobe. Brennan moaned and Booth placed his free hand against her lower back, steadying her against him. "Fun is usually not the right word to describe doing the laundry."

Brennan fought her impatience and started unbuttoning his shirt one at a time, using her casted arm to keep the fabric in place as she slid the buttons through the tiny holes. "Then you were never doing it right." Booth raised an eyebrow. Was she implying that she distracted all her boyfriends with dirty laundry? Booth did not want to think about her being with someone else other than him and he pressed his lips against hers demandingly.

* * *

><p>A little over an hour later, Booth woke up next to Brennan, who was lying on her side and watching him intently. Booth smiled, an expression that she mirrored. He wanted to keep her like this forever, if he could. Here in his bed, completely naked and satiated. The light that touched her hair gave her an angelic glow and Booth reached out to touch it. "I have to take a shower…" Booth started.<p>

Brennan stretched herself languidly. "And do the laundry. I know." She looked at his lips again and she almost felt the urge to lean in and start their lovemaking all over again. "Thank you, " she said instead.

"For what? Doing the laundry? Most of it is mine, you know." Brennan shook her head and showed her perfect teeth in a bright smile.

"For being you. For making love to me the way you do," she shrugged her shoulders. "It was incredible. It was like…nearly breaking the laws of physics."

Booth kissed her on her forehead, not quite trusting himself to do anything else without getting carried away. "I'm glad you see it that way. We never would have managed that up against a wall."

Brennan raised a seductive eyebrow at him. "I'd still like to try that with you some time."

Booth shook his head. "Not as long as your arm is still in that cast."

Brennan's defense immediately kicked in. Sometimes Booth would just have random ideas and convictions in his head without never looking at other facts and arguments. "But it's properly protected that way! It's probably a lot safer now than—"

"No."

"But I could easily—"

"No."

"It's simple if you just—"

"No, Bones. It's not going to happen. Maybe one day, after you've given birth and our child is at a babysitter's, and we've had one too many drinks and you are wearing that dangerous red dress. Maybe then, okay? But otherwise, no." Booth thought that this cleared the situation up for her, but of course, Brennan would not give up without a fight.

Brennan raised her chin up in defiance. "I could easily pin you against the wall myself and take what I want. I know plenty of moves to get you into the right position."

Booth narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. "You know what, Bones, in the state of Washington D.C., we call that rape. You can actually get a conviction or a jail sentence for that, because it is a criminal offence. It's a very wrong thing to do, because you actually victimize someone."

Now it was Brennan's turn to narrow her eyes. "You would like it if you'd just let me try that with you. I'm very good in bed and my stamina is excellent. I think it would be very satisfying."

Booth was starting to feel like she was taunting him once again and he wanted her to stop that. "Yes, you are perfect in bed, which is exactly why I'm getting you out of mine right now," Booth pointed to his bathroom door. "You're welcome to join me in the shower. I'll help you clean up without getting your cast wet, but that will be it, okay Bones?" He was not convinced of that overly innocent smile that suddenly made its way to her face. "I mean it, as much as I love you, I have to get some things done today. There's only so many times a day you can distract a man with sex, alright?"

"Alright," Brennan caved, pushing the sheets away from her body. With a sly grin on her face, she realized that he never specified how many times exactly.

* * *

><p>Booth had gathered the laundry in the baskets in the bathroom as well as the clothing they had shed in the morning after he had returned from church. Very systematically, he had collected the towels in the toilet, kitchen and bathroom and brought those to the washing machine. He had changed the sheets and covered Brennan – who had fallen asleep again on his living room couch – with a blanket from his bedroom closet.<p>

When he was standing in the cramped room where he hid his washing and drying machine, he began to sort them out, color by color. There was more of Brennan's clothing than he had originally believed there would be: two bras, five panties, three shirts and two pants. He smiled at the domesticity of it all. She was not just sleeping over anymore. She had her own sock drawer and the left side of his closet had been cleared for her to use. They slept at her apartment too, but not as often, because she claimed she liked his place better, despite the lack of space and facilities.

Her bras were a light color, so he put them in the washing machine. Both of her pants were dark colored, so he threw them back in the basket, ready for washing after the first load was done. One of her panties was dark, so he threw it in the basket with her trousers. Another one was a light blue that matched the color of the eyes. Booth smiled at the memory. When he found the grey one she had been wearing today, he accidentally noticed some tiny dark spots in the cotton. Booth raised his eyebrows. Must have been some old period spots that did not come out with the washing anymore. Booth looked up at his shelve of cleaning product. He had something that specifically reacted on blood and wine stains. He could try to get it out with that.

When Booth found the bottle, he put some of the detergent on Brennan's stained panties and folded them into a ball. He pushed them to the side, letting it set into the material. He went back to her other panties, now subconsciously paying more attention to any stains on her clothing. He found some more on her light green one, as well as on dark red one. Booth pulled the blue one from the washing machine and found similar stains. He laid them out next to each other and looked a little closer. He had assumed that this was old blood, but upon further examination, he realized that these stains did not seem that faded at all.

Booth grabbed the one that he had taken off of her right this morning. He had been too caught up in her beauty and in his arousal to notice any of that then. The spots almost seemed to angrily glare up at him. Booth let out a long breath. "Son of a bitch!"

* * *

><p>Brennan awoke again when Booth entered the living room, stomping his way over to her. His jaw was tight and his eyes were set upon her in that murderous look that he would normally save for any suspects that needed a thorough drilling. Brennan set up straight instantly and unconsciously shuffled over to the side of the couch. "Why didn't you tell me that you were fucking bleeding?"<p>

"Bleeding?" Brennan repeated after him, looking rather perplexed. "What are you talking about? I'm not bleeding!"

Booth stepped closer to her, almost threateningly. "I'm doing the laundry. I find blood in your panties. In each and every one of them. How is that not bleeding and why did you fail to mention that to me?" He placed his hands on his hips and stared at her intensely.

Brennan's eyes widened. "Oh, that…" her voice trailed off as she looked away from him.

"'Oh, that…'? Bones, you could be miscarrying as we speak! Why are you acting like it's no big deal when it obviously is! You do know biology, right? Women who are expecting, like yourself, are not supposed to bleed!"

Brennan folded her hands into her lap and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not actual bleeding, Booth! I've done extensive research online on the subject and it's called spotting. It's very common in pregnancies up until the twentieth week. It doesn't cause any harm to anyone. Things will be more serious if I'd experience cramps or pains or really start to bleed a lot," Brennan educated him. Of course, she had made sure to look these symptoms up as soon as they showed up. Since this was her first pregnancy, she had no idea what was or was not normal or when to call the midwife.

"So tell me the truth, Bones. Are you experiencing you any of that? When we were fucking this morning, did you have any pain that you neglected to tell me about?" Brennan had to hold her breath and count to ten. He was really angry over something really silly and now he was taking it out on her.

"I find you very condescending. I don't have any pains or cramps or bleeding, damn it. Just let this go! It's normal, I told you, I've been having it for about a week now. It just started out of nowhere, but it's not getting any worse." Brennan tried to reason with him, but she saw Booth do the math in his head.

"A week? So it started around the time that we _did_ start sleeping together? God, Bones! Why didn't you tell me? I should know about these things! Instead, I've been making love to you every night since, damaging God knows what—"

Brennan got up from the couch and straightened her back. They were now almost getting into each other's faces, literally. "I didn't tell you anything, because I _knew_ you would respond like this. You would make a really big thing out of it and you would stop sleeping with me at once and that is really unnecessary!"

Booth's eyes continued flaming at her. He swallowed a lump of emotions that had lodged itself in his throat. "I'm calling Analeigh," he decided, referring to Brennan's young nurse-midwife at the birthing center she chose to have their baby at.

Brennan cocked her head to the side, speechless for a few seconds. "Don't, it's a Sunday."

However, Booth was already pulling his cellphone from the pocket of his pants to dial her number. "Doesn't matter. She told you that you could call her any day at any time if something was wrong. She would personally help you out whenever you needed her. I think it's time we need her to clear something up for us, because we're obviously not going to agree on this."

"Booth, she has a family! I am fine. I'll last through the day. You can call her tomorrow if you have to, but I'm not an emergency, so just let her be with her family, alright? You wouldn't want to be disturbed on your day off with Parker for something unimportant, right?" Brennan said. She had quickly bonded with her midwife when she had told Brennan that she had just had a baby of her own. She could see childbirth from a professional point of view as well as a personal one.

"She's twenty-three, you know?" Booth lashed out. Brennan frowned at him. "Analeigh, she's twenty-three. Graduated all of her studies early. Her parents were both killed in a car crash when she was only eighteen years old." A silence fell between them in which Brennan felt like she was expected to say something, but had no idea what it was supposed to be exactly.

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "Why exactly is this relevant?"

"Because I checked her out. Mostly out of curiosity, because I wanted to know her age, but her name popped up in several records. When her parents died, she decided to take care of her fifteen year old sister. That sister often came into contact with the police for minor misdemeanors and felonies. Analeigh always bailed her out; probably worked a lot to be able to afford doing that time and time again. Analeigh married at age nineteen, but stayed in her old house to live with her sister. When her sister turned eighteen, she took a plane to Portugal and then disappeared into thin air. No one's ever seen her since. Analeigh had her daughter Florine at twenty-two, but still lives in her old house without her husband. She's probably waiting for her sister to come back. So excuse me, Bones, but I think her work is what is keeping her together. She probably enjoys your call by means of distraction from another lone day in an empty house with her baby daughter."

Brennan was slightly taken aback by this. She only knew Analeigh as a friendly and high-spirited young woman who was obviously very skilled and thorough in her job as a nurse-midwife. Still, what made Booth think that a difficult personal life was an excuse to abuse someone's professional life? "I think that's argument's invalid. You don't know if she's alone out there or if she truly wants to be disturbed for something meaningless such as this. Judging from my own experience as her client, she can probably compartmentalize really well. You're just looking for an excuse to make yourself feel better about an egotistical act!"

"It's not egotistical, damn it," Booth said, raising his voice. "I'm only thinking about you!"

"And I am very capable of thinking for myself, Booth!" Brennan could not keep her voice at a soft level anymore either, as she was quickly running out of patience with him.

"Are you? Are you really?" Booth stepped as close to Brennan as he possibly could. He still had his hands on his hips and she cradled her left arm with her right as she glared at him angrily. "Because you can't even remember to eat at regular intervals. You still don't drink enough. You break your arm and you need me to tell you to go to a hospital to get it checked out. You have been bleeding for a week and I have to call you out on it! You can't think for yourself! You can only think about bones. Day in, day out, it's nothing but forensic anthropology and rationality with you and I have no idea how you're going to take care of a baby if taking care of yourself is such a challenge for you already!"

Booth only realized what he had said, after the words had already left his mouth. Sure, he was upset, but this lashing out at Brennan had been completely uncalled for. "Oh God, Bones… I'm so sorry." She was staring at him in disbelief when he reached out to gently touch her shoulder. She shrugged him off of her. She was ready to smack him across the face again, but decided not to, because it would not solve anything between them.

"No, you're not. You meant every word you said." She looked at the front door behind him. Her coat was hanging on a hook next to it. Her car keys were in her pocket. Her cellphone was in the pocket of her pants. She was good to go.

Booth shook his head. "No Bones, I did not. I only said it because I was feeling bad and wasn't thinking clearly. I was speaking out of frustration and not from the heart."

She stepped past him and headed for the hallway. "You sounded pretty convincing to me." She yanked her coat from the hook and stuck her broken arm into its sleeve, before fumbling to shake her healthy arm into the other one. She was trying really hard not to burst out crying right in front of him this second. Booth watched her with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Bones, please. Don't leave. Not like this," he wanted to talk it out with her, but all she did was shake her head and stubbornly continued to put on her coat.

"I find I currently have very little reason to stay." She was refusing to meet his eye, or to even look at him as she flipped her hair back over the collar of her coat. Booth reached out to help her, but she squatted his hand away. "Contrary to what you believe, I am capable of making my own decisions and I have just decided to go home..." Her hands were shaking, so that even with her healthy hand she could not manage to zip up her coat. After three attempts, she gave up and just left it open. She reached inside her pocket to grasp her keys. The metal felt cold against her skin and she took them out, holding them up for Booth to see. "…and I'm going to drive there myself."

Booth dropped his head in defeat. Once she had made up her mind, it was a nearly impossible task to convince her to do otherwise. If only she would let him apologize. "Look, I'll come over—"

"No!" Brennan said, turning her face up to look at him angrily. "Don't come over, don't call me, don't do anything." Her lower lip trembled. "I can't be around you right now." There was a moment in which they stared at each other a little longer than necessary: Booth with a sad expression and Brennan looking angry, tired and hurt. She felt her stomach drop and swallowed nervously as she looked to the door. "I'd better go now."

She opened the door and let herself out. She immediately closed it behind her, so that Booth could not watch her as she left. As soon as she turned herself around to walk off, she broke out into sobs that she tried to keep as quiet as she could. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop the tears from falling, but they managed to slip between her eyelids anyway. She whipped them away furiously with the sleeve of her coat as she set a quick pace to her car.

Booth slammed his fist angrily against his closed door, before leaning forward and resting his forehead against it. How did he let things get out of hand like this? The woman who had just walked out on him, was the same woman who had been trembling in his arms this morning, calling his name. It was the same woman who he had helped shave her right armpit in the shower this morning, because she could not do it with her left hand in a cast. It was the same woman whose laundry was mixed with his.

Booth hit the door again, but this time he did it solely to feel the painful sensation run through his hand. She was right. He had behaved like a condescending jerk. If she had researched this phenomenon called spotting and concluded that it was harmless, she was most likely right. Booth let out a slow sigh. He was not going to give up on her that easily.

Pushing himself away from the door, he turned himself around to stare at his living room. He was going to finish up sorting the laundry and putting the light-colored washing into the machine and then he would drive after her. His routine had been broken today anyway. He would go to her place, apologize and promise he would not say something foolish like that again. It had been mean for him to call her out on her dedication to her work. It was actually one of the qualities that he appreciated most about her.

Booth put all of his own emotions to the side for a while and set himself to work. He was not going to let them fall apart over some goddamned laundry. With the same care that he treated Brennan, he collected her clothing items and used the stain dissolver on all of her underwear. Once everything was sorted, he closed the washing machine and pressed the buttons to start it. What a nasty bloody Sunday…

* * *

><p><em>Ally's Note: <em>_Today I'm starting on my two-day drive back to my home country (I have a fear of flying and avoid it as much as I can), as I have officially finished modeling in Italy. I have no idea when I'll update again, but those of you who follow me on Twitter will be kept posted on any progress (or lack thereof). I'll reply to your reviews for this chapter and the previous one on Saturday, I think._

_For the next day: Brennan returns to work, where she meets someone she'd rather avoid. How are things now between Brennan and her team now that they have learned she's pregnant? Has Brennan forgiven them for the fact that they misread her and thought she was ill? And most importantly, have Booth and Brennan really made nice with each other…?_


	4. Week 13, day 2 Rated M

**Jump Start**

_Ally's Note: I will warn you straight away. This chapter is very _**M**_-rated. Not kidding. I may have set a new record for myself when it comes to chapter length, but half of it is just…eh…sexiness. The first time ever that I wrote a scene like this, so I'm very nervous about posting it. If halfway through you decide you can't take it anymore, the T-chapter is posted before this one. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to crawl into some dark place in my car and await your responses in shame…_

* * *

><p><strong>Week 13, day 2<strong>

_~Dedicated to my hyperglycemia, which makes my mood swing faster than Brennan's and gets me more hyperactive than my twin sister with ADHD (which she doesn't have). That's right, I'm using my diabetes as an excuse for writing a potentially bad sex scene. ~_

* * *

><p>Seeley Booth loved Sundays. There was something about the day that made the entire atmosphere seem more relaxed. This was partly contributed due to the fact that he did not have to go to work, but mostly because he had his own ritual. He would get up early in the morning and go to church. He would leave as quietly as he could, hoping that Brennan would sleep in, but nine out of ten times he would find her freshly-showered, sitting at the breakfast table upon his return. He avoided shopping on a Sunday, but if Brennan needed anything, he would not hesitate to go and get it for her. On Sundays, he would do his cleaning, the laundry and maybe watch a game in the evening. Today was no different.<p>

When he came home from mass, he found Brennan in a very cuddly state, which was highly unusual for her. Sometimes it would be hard for him to determine where she ended and her pregnancy hormones began. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, she walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are your rules about Sunday sex?"

"Good morning to you too, Bones," he laughed as he wrapped his own arms around her back and rubbed it soothingly. She was still wearing the jogging pants that she used to sleep in, but she had traded her tanktop in for a virginal white blouse. She was still so small in his arms. "Can you imagine the day when we won't be able to hold each other close like this anymore?"

She pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes mischievously. She dropped her hands to his chest and stroked him over his neat and crisp white shirt that was part of his Sunday outfit. "I can imagine that. It won't be too long anymore." She cocked her head to the side and leaned in to his face. "Shall I show you how close we can really get if we make an effort?"

Her breath ghosted against his lips and Booth grinned. "What has gotten into you?" It was an open door to all sorts of witty remarks, but she chose to keep them to herself for now and kiss him instead. Her hands slid to the buttons of his blouse, but Booth grabbed them and stilled them. Brennan retreated her hands only to move them to her own chest to open the buttons of her own shirt. Her left hand tried to work with her, but the cast was in the way. Booth opened one eye while he was kissing her to see what she was doing. He quickly broke the kiss and placed both of his hands on either side of his face. "Not now. I still have a lot to do." He pecked her lips and was about to walk away again, but she grabbed him by the belt on his pants and yanked her back to him.

Her breathing was ragged and her eyes looked a little misty. "We can add these clothes to the dirty laundry pile as well as change the sheets. We'll just have some fun while we're doing the laundry." Brennan pressed herself as close against him as she could. "It would just be squatting two mosquitoes in one go."

Booth could feel his defense start to crumble and gave in with a smile. He went for her neck aggressively as he wound one of his hands through her hair, placing sucking kisses from her collarbone up to her earlobe. Brennan moaned and Booth placed his free hand against her lower back, steadying her against him. "Fun is usually not the right word to describe doing the laundry."

Brennan fought her impatience and started unbuttoning his shirt one at a time, using her casted arm to keep the fabric in place as she slid the buttons through the tiny holes. "Then you were never doing it right." Booth raised an eyebrow. Was she implying that she distracted all her boyfriends with dirty laundry? Booth did not want to think about her being with someone else other than him and he pressed his lips against hers demandingly.

"I hate how I'm so often prioritizing your need for sex over household chores these days." He spoke in between kisses, as his hands trailed over her body from the smooth curve of her neck, down to her side until he reached her hips. He moved them lower, over her buttocks, until they rested on her upper thighs. With a light tug, he lifted her up and into his arms, so that he was enveloped by her body.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and stared down at him with one eyebrow raised teasingly. "It's a good choice. I'm carrying your baby. You're supposed to keep me satisfied in every area. Intercourse is very highly on my list." Booth had wanted to carry her to the bedroom, but then she leaned down towards his face, blocking his view entirely. She kissed him hard, no longer brushing against his lips, but insistently pressing them apart with her own. Booth reached out with one hand for the wall as she managed to get him to open his mouth and she was finally able to deepen the kiss. First there was only the tip of her tongue softly tracing her lips, but then she went for the depths of his mouth until she finally found his tongue and tangled it with her own.

There was Brennan everywhere. Her hair cascading in waves over his shoulder as she kissed him; her casted arm rested on the other. Her healthy hand had worked its way back between their bodies and was still busy getting his shirt undone. She tightened her legs around him, bringing himself closer to the warmth of his body. Booth could feel his body physically responding to hers and he turned them so he could gently pin her with her back against the wall. She continued kissing him for as long as she could, before Booth caressed her hair back behind her ear and broke apart. "Could you behave for a few minutes so that we can actually make it to the bedroom?"

Brennan shook her head. She swiveled her hips between his body and the wall, causing her to ground against his groin. Booth dropped his head to her neck and groaned. Brennan felt as if there were tiny currents of electricity running through her lower body. She had gotten way more sensitive in that area since she got pregnant. She bit back another moan when Booth's hand came to rest over her clothed breast. "I'm perfectly fine with you taking me against this wall."

Booth chuckled. They never made it past his hallway. If they were going to keep making these noises, everyone walking by his apartment could listen in on them. He removed his hand from her breast to help her with the last button of his shirt, and he shook it off, revealing his naked chest. "I'm not going to risk that while your arm is in a cast. I could easily damage the other while we're at it."

"Don't care," Brennan said, shaking her head. "Do it. Do it now. I'll be too big in a couple of weeks." She let her hand travel over the plains of his chest. He was muscular, well-structured and his abs were perfectly defined. She glanced up at him. He was a gorgeous and attractive man; these were not just hormones that made her feel so attracted to him. She bent forward, her back arching from the wall, so she could nip at his clavicle. She purposely scraped her teeth against his naked skin, earning her a sharp gasp from him.

Booth retaliated by quickly shoving his hands underneath her blouse and cupping her bra-covered breasts. He brushed his thumbs across her nipples and Brennan stopped her ministrations on him to moan and grab hold of his arm, out of fear that she would somehow fall from his arms. These sensations that he was provoking inside her were almost too good to actually be legal. "I will not be taunted," Booth said, grinning at Brennan's response to his touch, earning him a death glare. "You are too precious to damage on a quick screw against the wall."

Brennan nuzzled his neck and moved up to his face. She looked like she was about to kiss him again, but instead, she bit down on his lip. Hard. Booth winced. "I like it rough, passionate and uninhibited."

Booth pulled his hands back from underneath her shirt and wrapped them around her back. "Then you're out of luck. I'm not going to give it to you like that. Not here anyway." Before she could formulate another one of her clever responses, he quickly moved her down from the hallway, through his living room and to his bedroom. Once he arrived there, he walked over to his bed and knelt down so he could carefully set her on the bed.

Brennan watched him in mild amusement as he handled her with so much care. "I won't break, you know?" Booth reached out to grasp the fingers of her casted arm and he placed gentle kisses on her knuckles.

"You already did." Brennan scowled at him.

"Can't you just shut up and have sex with me already?" She grabbed him by the back of his head and pulled him down with her as she laid back on the sheets, her lower legs dangling over the side of the bed. Booth propped himself on his elbows as he leaned over her and kissed her. He liked how responsive she was to his kissing; she followed every movement of his mouth and battled his tongue. He knelt above her, placing his knees on either side of her waist without actually straddling her.

He did not break the kiss as he shoved his arms underneath her armpits and pulled her up towards his body. Pushing out from his knees, he managed to shove her a couple of inches further on the bed so that she was lying completely stretched out now. When Booth broke the kiss, he leaned back a little so that he could take a good look at her. Her hair was spread out on his dark red sheets and she smiled, her blue eyes staring up at him in a mixture of curiosity and arousal. He could look at her for hours like this. He grabbed a pillow and placed it underneath her head. Soon enough, her impatience kicked in and she wrapped her legs around his waist again. Booth had to stop himself from toppling over and as she did so, and he quickly rolled them over. "Bones! Do you want me collapse on top of you and flatten you into a pancake?"

Her hair fell to the side of her face as she straddled him and she furrowed her eyebrows together in a confused frown. "What are you talking about? The most you could do is cut off my air supply for a few seconds." Her hands wandered to the front of her chest, back to try to and undo some more buttons.

"You're right. That's not half as bad." He pushed himself up to help her. After all, he had two working hands. He unbuttoned her blouse and then parted the fabric, revealing a simple gray bra and her pale stomach with the slightest bump which he had already come to love. He pushed her blouse back over her shoulders and she quickly discarded it to the side of the bed. Wasting no time, she reached behind her back to unhook her bra with a single hand. She quickly shook out of it and deposited the article next to her blouse on the ground.

She laid back against him, pressing their naked chests together as she sought out his lips again with her mouth. One of his hands travelled down her side and rested on her shoulder blade. With the other one, he caressed her hair back from her face so he could rub her cheek with his thumb lovingly. He then moved his hand lower to cup one of her naked breasts, earning him a sharp gasp as she arched her back and broke the kiss. Booth sat up to kiss the side of her neck and then made his way down to her chest. "Booth…," she managed to say in a strained whisper. "It's inappropriate to tease me like that when you're still wearing your shiny shoes."

Booth ignored her temporarily as his tongue flicked out lick the valley between her breasts. She smelled like the acai berry shower gel that she used, but her skin tasted more salty. He liked it. "But you love my shoes…" He cupped the underside of her left breast as he leaned in and took the nipple into his mouth, sucking slightly, but rough enough to make Brennan nearly lose control and grind in his lap.

"Not right now," she commented, helplessly trying to push Booth away from her chest, but failing miserably as all the strength appeared to have left her arms. Booth persistently reached for her other breast and laved the sensitive nipple with his tongue in torturous circles. Brennan felt as if her insides were on fire. No one but him had ever been able to make her feel _this_ good. Even though she felt the need to battle for dominance with him – even in bed – she enjoyed their game of alpha male versus alpha female. He was a very generous lover, but sometimes she just wanted to have her way quickly and he would make it hard for her to manage that. "Oh!" she exclaimed when Booth pinched her left nipple while sucking on the right one. They had gotten so sensitive that even bumping or brushing against something could either make her gasp or wince in discomfort. She had had just about enough. Her hands went down to his belt buckle impatiently and she yanked at it when she could not get it open.

"Patience, Bones," Booth educated her. He rolled them both over to lie on their sides, so he pull his knee up and untie his shoes, before kicking them off. His took off his socks as well. Brennan had not been wearing any when she almost attacked him in the hallway. "It is a virtue, you know." He unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants, but did not take them off yet. With a gentle push to her shoulder, he directed her to lie on her back.

Brennan raised a seductive eyebrow at him. "Is that what they taught you in church today?" Booth replied by turning his attention back to her chest and latching on to her left breast. He smiled when she moaned and sucked in a deep breath. He placed both of his hands on her soft stomach and stroked the naked skin with his fingertips before pushing them further down her body. Brennan drew both of her legs up and placed her feet on the bed so she could help raise her hips up when Booth untied the strings of her pants.

"No. Do you know what _was_ discussed today?" Booth pressed a quick kiss to her stomach. "Lust. How it clouds judgment and distracts people from other more important things." Of course, none of that was true, but there was nothing he liked more than teasing Brennan when they were in bed together. It was the one area where they felt they could say anything to each other, bicker about it and then wrestle it out.

Booth hooked his fingers around the edge of her pants and tugged them down when Brennan raised her hips, taking her panties with them. She gracefully stretched out her legs, making removal of the last offending clothes easier for him. When she was completely undressed, Brennan yanked Booth up to her face by pulling on his hair. She looked into his eyes for a couple of seconds before she closed her own and opened her mouth when he leaned in to kiss her again. She felt him slide his hand between her legs and she nearly yelped, arching against his hand. "I'm perfectly capable of making proper judgment right now. I judge that you should take your pants off. Now."

Booth smiled, gently stroking her to make sure that she would be ready for him. He watched her writhe on the bed and close her eyes. Her head rested against a pillow, but as she arched her back and moved her hips, her shoulders pressed against the mattress. She was panting hard now, refusing to beg him to let her come and yet the concentrated expression on her face told him that she was trying so hard to get there. "You're beautiful," Booth blurted out. "You think you are already aware of that, but you have no idea just how gorgeous you really are."

Brennan reopened her eyes and grabbed for Booth's upper arms. He leaned forward, hovering over her slightly, but never breaking eye contact. "I want you," she said. "I want you inside me now." Her eyes were the same blue that they always were, but in a state of arousal, they had an extra sparkle to them that he had never seen before on other occasions. It made him feel even more attracted to her. She would name it adrenaline, pheromones or whatever, but to him it was just Bones.

Booth withdrew his hand from her so he could place his forearms to both sides of her face and meet her eye. Her hands were still stroking across his torso and then went around to his back, tracing the line of his spine. Booth sighed. "Look Bones, I'm not going to get rough on you. We both know how…hypersensitive you are now. I'm not going to hurt you. I can't do that."

Brennan's eyes looked down between their bodies. "I could be on top. Decide the…pace and depth…" she nervously trailed her eyes back up to his. She was used to just do as she pleased in bed and not really talk about it. With her previous sexual partners, she would take things as they came and take action accordingly, to achieve her own release. Booth found giving as important as taking, if not more, but he would never agree to anything that could get her hurt.

Booth touched the side of her face with one hand and kissed her softly on the lips without deepening it. They both closed their eyes at the contact. "Of course," he said. "Of course you can be on top. You don't need to ask my permission for that." He caught a strand of her hair between his fingers. "I think that's very hot." It has only been a week since they started having sex or making love after the night of Vincent Nigel Murray's death, whichever word applied best for the different situations. There was still a lot to discover about each other's bodies - and especially about Brennan's changing one - during intercourse.

Brennan smiled and finally he sat up to unzip his pants and take them off. Brennan feared that he was going to torture her longer by leaving his boxers on, but he surprised her when he first stepped out of his pants and then shoved his boxers down as well. Brennan stared at his groin as he sat back down on the bed and laid down next to her. He was going to touch her again, but she grasped his fingers. "Booth, please. I can't take that much."

"Yes, you can, baby," he did know that by experience, but decided to spare her and kiss her instead. She welcomed his mouth eagerly when it met her own. They went from lying on their side to Brennan placing one leg over his waist and flipping them over. She straddled him by sitting on his thighs, making them both groan at the sensation of feeling her hot flesh pressed against his skin. Brennan sat up straighter, looking him in the eye when she trailed her hands over his body. She felt every curve of his chest, his taught abdomen and she could not help herself to lean down and press a wet kiss just below his navel.

"Bones…" he groaned out, thinking about what she could possibly be doing next. Brennan grinned mischievously. She was often in the mood to play, but now there was only one thing she really wanted. She scooted further up towards his body and she again placed her hand on his chest, leaving her casted arm to the side of her body. "Are you ready?" Booth questioned when she made eye contact and looked at him questioning.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" She was giving him the strong attitude again, but Booth forced back a chuckle. There was a definite sliver of insecure anticipation in her voice, but he decided not to call her out on that. She wanted to feel good with him. He wanted her to feel good with him as well. Then she touched him and guided him into her and she slowly moved herself down on top of him. The feeling of him inside of her like that was overwhelming and Brennan let out a loud moan as she tried to hold herself still for a while, giving them both time to adjust to the feeling of being this intimately close with each other's bodies.

"Oh, Bones," Booth groaned, reaching for her hips to steady her on top of him. "You feel incredible. Oh…," his voice caught in his throat as she experimentally swiveled her hips back and forth, moving over him. Her eyes closed on their own account.

"This…this is so good," she murmured. Indeed, it was not as fast or as hard as she usually would have liked, but this was perfect for now. She was not in pain and Booth did not look like he was either. She leaned forward to kiss him, but Booth sat up a little, meeting her halfway. Brennan felt the change of angle hit a whole new spot within her and she gasped out loud against his lips. "Booth! Ah…"

He drew his legs up so he could pull her to sit on his lap. He felt the overwhelming need to be as close to her as he possibly could and she gratefully wrapped her arms – both of them – around his torso holding him tightly against her own chest. "Is this…is this okay?" Brennan had stopped moving in his lap, but just held him instead. "Are you in pain, Bones?" Booth's voice was husky, slightly higher than in his usual contained state.

"No, no pain," she denied quickly. She leaned back from his chest and placed her hands on his shoulder. "Very sensitive." She felt as if tiny needles were prickling her insides, tickling her. She felt so very warm and comfortable, but she knew would not last very long like this. She would come apart in a matter of seconds and leave him behind. She wanted to please him, like she had done that night weeks ago.

"Do you want me to lie back down?" Booth questioned, stroking her hair and trailing one hand down to massage a breast, making her moan once again. Brennan shook her head. She leaned back in his lap a little and found a way to stabilize herself on her lower legs as well as levitate in his lap. When she grinded again without warning him, Booth took hold of her hips with both of his hands. The way she moved against him was delicious, but also an unfamiliar feeling. They had not tried being together like this before. He kissed her shoulder. "This…is wonderful."

Brennan used her strength on Booth's shoulder to help her up and down. She was increasing the pace, but found it increasingly tiring. This position caused her to feel everything, as if all her nerve endings were rapidly sending out signals to her brain like fireworks. "Feels so…so good. But maybe…you could help me?" She fought hard to keep her eyes open and look at him.

Booth smiled. "Of course," he dropped his hands to the bottom of her thighs and added gentle pressure, helping her lift up in his lap more easily. Brennan nodded gratefully and tried to guide his head down to hers with the fingertips of her casted arm. Booth got the sign and kissed her, pouring everything he had into that passionate act and swallowing her little grunts of pleasure. Brennan could not keep quiet during making love and the little 'ah' sounds she made turned Booth on even more.

She broke the kiss to gasp for air and threw her head back. Booth gladly took advantage of his situation to bend down and trail his lips down to her chest, placing small sucking kisses along the tops of her breasts. "Booth!" She choked out in small voice. "I'm really close…"

"I know, I can feel you, baby," Booth could feel her tightening around him, what usually signaled that she was close to her release. "Let it go, then I will lie you down," he could feel the sweat gathering on his own forehead as well. The damp atmosphere in the room caused the temperature to increase rather quickly. Her fingers were digging into his shoulders, but he barely felt that. He gently wiped her hair from her face and saw her furrow her brow. "That's it. You're almost there. I've got you."

"You—" her breath caught in her throat as she slid down on Booth's lap one more time. Her eyes closed on their own account, Booth felt her legs tighten against his and then she inhaled sharply. "Booth…" she moaned his name as she climaxed, and for a second she was only aware of Booth embedded deep inside of her and him wrapping his arms around her lovingly, protectively. She fell back against his chest, suddenly feeling drained of all energy and she pressed a tired kiss next to his nipple. She was not in a state to do much else as she shivered in exquisite bliss.

Booth started shifting, wanting to lie her down on her back, but she stopped him by tightening her legs around him and sitting up straight again. "No, I want to…," Brennan's voice trailed off. "You should lie back." She rotated her hips in his lap experimentally, making him grunt out in sheer pleasure. She was determined to finish this for him too.

"Bones… y-you're tired…and pregnant. I don't blame you if…"

She pushed him down by pressing her palm against his chest and moving down with him. She felt him stir inside of him and she gasped. "Let me make you feel good, Booth. You've helped me too." He swallowed as he looked up at her intense gaze, before she raised herself up again before moving down on him. She rotated her hips experimentally and paid careful attention to what made him grunt or groan and when he would throw his head back. Brennan was working him on her last bits of energy, but she was determined to make him come too.

Brennan leaned over his chest with her own body, her breasts pressed flat against him. She was sliding herself back and forth while pressing quick wet kisses along his collarbone. She could feel that he started twitching inside her and his breathing became more ragged. "Look at me, Booth," she instructed. His warm brown eyes connected with hers instantly. "Come inside of me, please. You don't have to hold back. You're making me feel good and…I'll come with you. " As soon as she said that, she reached between their bodies with her healthy hand to touch herself and bring her to the edge with him.

"Bones…" it was very erotic to watch her pleasure herself with him inside her, but he desperately wanted to take over. She shook her head.

"Concentrate, Booth. Keep looking at me. Please look at me." His intense look at her aroused her immensely and she shuddered on top of him. It was working; they were both so close now. Booth was twitching inside of her and when she felt the muscles in his lower abdomen start to spasm, she knew she could let go too.

"Bones, oh!" He groaned rather loudly as he came. He leaned up quickly to capture Brennan's lips again with his own as he felt himself empty his semen inside of her. He effectively muffled Brennan's cries as she climaxed with him, like she said she would. Her body collapsed against his in a sweaty mess of tangled limbs. Both of them were panting heavily as Booth rolled Brennan onto her back and uncoupled them.

"Booth…" she said, but she did not say anything else. He reached over her to grab the top of the sheets and tugged them down from underneath her body so that he could cover her with it. She eyed him sleepily with a content smile on her face. He temporarily lost all his interest in doing the laundry, as he scooted under the sheets with her and gathered Brennan pliant body close in his arms. Slumber found him rather quickly on this late Sunday morning.

* * *

><p>A little over an hour later, Booth woke up next to Brennan, who was lying on her side and watching him intently. Booth smiled, an expression that she mirrored. He wanted to keep her like this forever, if he could. Here in his bed, completely naked and satiated. The light that touched her hair gave her an angelic glow and Booth reached out to touch it. "I have to take a shower…" Booth started.<p>

Brennan stretched herself languidly. "And do the laundry. I know." She looked at his lips again and she almost felt the urge to lean in and start their lovemaking all over again. "Thank you, " she said instead.

"For what? Doing the laundry? Most of it is mine, you know." Brennan shook her head and showed her perfect teeth in a bright smile.

"For being you. For making love to me the way you do," she shrugged her shoulders. "It was incredible. It was like…nearly breaking the laws of physics."

Booth kissed her on her forehead, not quite trusting himself to do anything else without getting carried away. "I'm glad you see it that way. We never would have managed that up against a wall."

Brennan raised a seductive eyebrow at him. "I'd still like to try that with you some time."

Booth shook his head. "Not as long as your arm is still in that cast."

Brennan's defense immediately kicked in. Sometimes Booth would just have random ideas and convictions in his head without never looking at other facts and arguments. "But it's properly protected that way! It's probably a lot safer now than—"

"No."

"But I could easily—"

"No."

"It's simple if you just—"

"No, Bones. It's not going to happen. Maybe one day, after you've given birth and our child is at a babysitter's, and we've had one too many drinks and you are wearing that dangerous red dress. Maybe then, okay? But otherwise, no." Booth thought that this cleared the situation up for her, but of course, Brennan would not give up without a fight.

Brennan raised her chin up in defiance. "I could easily pin you against the wall myself and take what I want. I know plenty of moves to get you into the right position."

Booth narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. "You know what, Bones, in the state of Washington D.C., we call that rape. You can actually get a conviction or a jail sentence for that, because it is a criminal offence. It's a very wrong thing to do, because you actually victimize someone."

Now it was Brennan's turn to narrow her eyes. "You would like it if you'd just let me try that with you. I'm very good in bed and my stamina is excellent. I think it would be very satisfying."

Booth was starting to feel like she was taunting him once again and he wanted her to stop that. "Yes, you are perfect in bed, which is exactly why I'm getting you out of mine right now," Booth pointed to his bathroom door. "You're welcome to join me in the shower. I'll help you clean up without getting your cast wet, but that will be it, okay Bones?" He was not convinced of that overly innocent smile that suddenly made its way to her face. "I mean it, as much as I love you, I have to get some things done today. There's only so many times a day you can distract a man with sex, alright?"

"Alright," Brennan caved, pushing the sheets away from her body. With a sly grin on her face, she realized that he never specified how many times exactly.

* * *

><p>Booth had gathered the laundry in the baskets in the bathroom as well as the clothing they had shed in the morning after he had returned from church. Very systematically, he had collected the towels in the toilet, kitchen and bathroom and brought those to the washing machine. He had changed the sheets and covered Brennan – who had fallen asleep again on his living room couch – with a blanket from his bedroom closet.<p>

When he was standing in the cramped room where he hid his washing and drying machine, he began to sort them out, color by color. There was more of Brennan's clothing than he had originally believed there would be: two bras, five panties, three shirts and two pants. He smiled at the domesticity of it all. She was not just sleeping over anymore. She had her own sock drawer and the left side of his closet had been cleared for her to use. They slept at her apartment too, but not as often, because she claimed she liked his place better, despite the lack of space and facilities.

Her bras were a light color, so he put them in the washing machine. Both of her pants were dark colored, so he threw them back in the basket, ready for washing after the first load was done. One of her panties was dark, so he threw it in the basket with her trousers. Another one was a light blue that matched the color of the eyes. Booth smiled at the memory. When he found the grey one she had been wearing today, he accidentally noticed some tiny dark spots in the cotton. Booth raised his eyebrows. Must have been some old period spots that did not come out with the washing anymore. Booth looked up at his shelve of cleaning product. He had something that specifically reacted on blood and wine stains. He could try to get it out with that.

When Booth found the bottle, he put some of the detergent on Brennan's stained panties and folded them into a ball. He pushed them to the side, letting it set into the material. He went back to her other panties, now subconsciously paying more attention to any stains on her clothing. He found some more on her light green one, as well as on dark red one. Booth pulled the blue one from the washing machine and found similar stains. He laid them out next to each other and looked a little closer. He had assumed that this was old blood, but upon further examination, he realized that these stains did not seem that faded at all.

Booth grabbed the one that he had taken off of her right this morning. He had been too caught up in her beauty and in his arousal to notice any of that then. The spots almost seemed to angrily glare up at him. Booth let out a long breath. "Son of a bitch!"

* * *

><p>Brennan awoke again when Booth entered the living room, stomping his way over to her. His jaw was tight and his eyes were set upon her in that murderous look that he would normally save for any suspects that needed a thorough drilling. Brennan set up straight instantly and unconsciously shuffled over to the side of the couch. "Why didn't you tell me that you were fucking bleeding?"<p>

"Bleeding?" Brennan repeated after him, looking rather perplexed. "What are you talking about? I'm not bleeding!"

Booth stepped closer to her, almost threateningly. "I'm doing the laundry. I find blood in your panties. In each and every one of them. How is that not bleeding and why did you fail to mention that to me?" He placed his hands on his hips and stared at her intensely.

Brennan's eyes widened. "Oh, that…" her voice trailed off as she looked away from him.

"'Oh, that…'? Bones, you could be miscarrying as we speak! Why are you acting like it's no big deal when it obviously is! You do know biology, right? Women who are expecting, like yourself, are not supposed to bleed!"

Brennan folded her hands into her lap and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not actual bleeding, Booth! I've done extensive research online on the subject and it's called spotting. It's very common in pregnancies up until the twentieth week. It doesn't cause any harm to anyone. Things will be more serious if I'd experience cramps or pains or really start to bleed a lot," Brennan educated him. Of course, she had made sure to look these symptoms up as soon as they showed up. Since this was her first pregnancy, she had no idea what was or was not normal or when to call the midwife.

"So tell me the truth, Bones. Are you experiencing you any of that? When we were fucking this morning, did you have any pain that you neglected to tell me about?" Brennan had to hold her breath and count to ten. He was really angry over something really silly and now he was taking it out on her.

"I find you very condescending. I don't have any pains or cramps or bleeding, damn it. Just let this go! It's normal, I told you, I've been having it for about a week now. It just started out of nowhere, but it's not getting any worse." Brennan tried to reason with him, but she saw Booth do the math in his head.

"A week? So it started around the time that we _did_ start sleeping together? God, Bones! Why didn't you tell me? I should know about these things! Instead, I've been making love to you every night since, damaging God knows what—"

Brennan got up from the couch and straightened her back. They were now almost getting into each other's faces, literally. "I didn't tell you anything, because I _knew_ you would respond like this. You would make a really big thing out of it and you would stop sleeping with me at once and that is really unnecessary!"

Booth's eyes continued flaming at her. He swallowed a lump of emotions that had lodged itself in his throat. "I'm calling Analeigh," he decided, referring to Brennan's young nurse-midwife at the birthing center she chose to have their baby at.

Brennan cocked her head to the side, speechless for a few seconds. "Don't, it's a Sunday."

However, Booth was already pulling his cellphone from the pocket of his pants to dial her number. "Doesn't matter. She told you that you could call her any day at any time if something was wrong. She would personally help you out whenever you needed her. I think it's time we need her to clear something up for us, because we're obviously not going to agree on this."

"Booth, she has a family! I am fine. I'll last through the day. You can call her tomorrow if you have to, but I'm not an emergency, so just let her be with her family, alright? You wouldn't want to be disturbed on your day off with Parker for something unimportant, right?" Brennan said. She had quickly bonded with her midwife when she had told Brennan that she had just had a baby of her own. She could see childbirth from a professional point of view as well as a personal one.

"She's twenty-three, you know?" Booth lashed out. Brennan frowned at him. "Analeigh, she's twenty-three. Graduated all of her studies early. Her parents were both killed in a car crash when she was only eighteen years old." A silence fell between them in which Brennan felt like she was expected to say something, but had no idea what it was supposed to be exactly.

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "Why exactly is this relevant?"

"Because I checked her out. Mostly out of curiosity, because I wanted to know her age, but her name popped up in several records. When her parents died, she decided to take care of her fifteen year old sister. That sister often came into contact with the police for minor misdemeanors and felonies. Analeigh always bailed her out; probably worked a lot to be able to afford doing that time and time again. Analeigh married at age nineteen, but stayed in her old house to live with her sister. When her sister turned eighteen, she took a plane to Portugal and then disappeared into thin air. No one's ever seen her since. Analeigh had her daughter Florine at twenty-two, but still lives in her old house without her husband. She's probably waiting for her sister to come back. So excuse me, Bones, but I think her work is what is keeping her together. She probably enjoys your call by means of distraction from another lone day in an empty house with her baby daughter."

Brennan was slightly taken aback by this. She only knew Analeigh as a friendly and high-spirited young woman who was obviously very skilled and thorough in her job as a nurse-midwife. Still, what made Booth think that a difficult personal life was an excuse to abuse someone's professional life? "I think that's argument's invalid. You don't know if she's alone out there or if she truly wants to be disturbed for something meaningless such as this. Judging from my own experience as her client, she can probably compartmentalize really well. You're just looking for an excuse to make yourself feel better about an egotistical act!"

"It's not egotistical, damn it," Booth said, raising his voice. "I'm only thinking about you!"

"And I am very capable of thinking for myself, Booth!" Brennan could not keep her voice at a soft level anymore either, as she was quickly running out of patience with him.

"Are you? Are you really?" Booth stepped as close to Brennan as he possibly could. He still had his hands on his hips and she cradled her left arm with her right as she glared at him angrily. "Because you can't even remember to eat at regular intervals. You still don't drink enough. You break your arm and you need me to tell you to go to a hospital to get it checked out. You have been bleeding for a week and I have to call you out on it! You can't think for yourself! You can only think about bones. Day in, day out, it's nothing but forensic anthropology and rationality with you and I have no idea how you're going to take care of a baby if taking care of yourself is such a challenge for you already!"

Booth only realized what he had said, after the words had already left his mouth. Sure, he was upset, but this lashing out at Brennan had been completely uncalled for. "Oh God, Bones… I'm so sorry." She was staring at him in disbelief when he reached out to gently touch her shoulder. She shrugged him off of her. She was ready to smack him across the face again, but decided not to, because it would not solve anything between them.

"No, you're not. You meant every word you said." She looked at the front door behind him. Her coat was hanging on a hook next to it. Her car keys were in her pocket. Her cellphone was in the pocket of her pants. She was good to go.

Booth shook his head. "No Bones, I did not. I only said it because I was feeling bad and wasn't thinking clearly. I was speaking out of frustration and not from the heart."

She stepped past him and headed for the hallway. "You sounded pretty convincing to me." She yanked her coat from the hook and stuck her broken arm into its sleeve, before fumbling to shake her healthy arm into the other one. She was trying really hard not to burst out crying right in front of him this second. Booth watched her with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Bones, please. Don't leave. Not like this," he wanted to talk it out with her, but all she did was shake her head and stubbornly continued to put on her coat.

"I find I currently have very little reason to stay." She was refusing to meet his eye, or to even look at him as she flipped her hair back over the collar of her coat. Booth reached out to help her, but she squatted his hand away. "Contrary to what you believe, I am capable of making my own decisions and I have just decided to go home..." Her hands were shaking, so that even with her healthy hand she could not manage to zip up her coat. After three attempts, she gave up and just left it open. She reached inside her pocket to grasp her keys. The metal felt cold against her skin and she took them out, holding them up for Booth to see. "…and I'm going to drive there myself."

Booth dropped his head in defeat. Once she had made up her mind, it was a nearly impossible task to convince her to do otherwise. If only she would let him apologize. "Look, I'll come over—"

"No!" Brennan said, turning her face up to look at him angrily. "Don't come over, don't call me, don't do anything." Her lower lip trembled. "I can't be around you right now." There was a moment in which they stared at each other a little longer than necessary: Booth with a sad expression and Brennan looking angry, tired and hurt. She felt her stomach drop and swallowed nervously as she looked to the door. "I'd better go now."

She opened the door and let herself out. She immediately closed it behind her, so that Booth could not watch her as she left. As soon as she turned herself around to walk off, she broke out into sobs that she tried to keep as quiet as she could. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop the tears from falling, but they managed to slip between her eyelids anyway. She whipped them away furiously with the sleeve of her coat as she set a quick pace to her car.

Booth slammed his fist angrily against his closed door, before leaning forward and resting his forehead against it. How did he let things get out of hand like this? The woman who had just walked out on him, was the same woman who had been trembling in his arms this morning, calling his name. It was the same woman who he had helped shave her right armpit in the shower this morning, because she could not do it with her left hand in a cast. It was the same woman whose laundry was waiting for him on the washing machine, still mixed with his own.

Booth hit the door again, but this time he did it solely to feel the painful sensation run through his hand. She was right. He had behaved like a condescending jerk. If she had researched this phenomenon called spotting and concluded that it was harmless, she was most likely right. Booth let out a slow sigh. He was not going to give up on her that easily.

Pushing himself away from the door, he turned himself around to stare at his living room. He was going to finish up sorting the laundry and putting the light-colored washing into the machine and then he would drive after her. His routine had been broken today anyway. He would go to her place, apologize and promise he would not say something foolish like that again. It had been mean for him to call her out on her dedication to her work. It was actually one of the qualities that he appreciated most about her.

Booth put all of his own emotions to the side for a while and set himself to work. He was not going to let them fall apart over some goddamned laundry. With the same care that he treated Brennan, he collected her clothing items and used the stain dissolver on all of her underwear. Once everything was sorted, he closed the washing machine and pressed the buttons to start it. What a nasty bloody Sunday…

* * *

><p><em>Ally's Note: Yeah, so I'm not sure whether to duck for cover or be proud of myself for trying something new. I'm not the begging kind (not at all), but I would REALLY appreciate it if you could give me feedback on my first hot scene ever. Was it sexy, boring or do you think I should just stop writing altogether and not give it a shot anymore until I get myself laid (haha!)? Do let me know. You can even do it on Twitter (AllysonHale) in a private message if you like. I'm very eager to learn about your opinions on how this turned out.<em>

_Today I'm starting on my two-day drive back to my home country (I have a fear of flying and avoid it as much as I can), as I have officially finished modeling in Italy. I have no idea when I'll update again, but those of you who follow me on Twitter will be kept posted on any progress (or lack thereof). I'll reply to your reviews to this chapter and the previous one on Saturday, I think. _

_For the next day: Brennan returns to work, where she meets someone she'd rather avoid. How are things now between Brennan and her team now that they have learned she's pregnant? Has Brennan forgiven them for the fact that they misread her and thought she was ill? And most importantly, have Booth and Brennan really made nice with each other…?_


	5. Week 13, day 3

**Jump Start**

_Ally's Note: You're not hallucinating. Jump Start is back, baby! Warning up front: It's late and I have a morning shift, so I haven't had the time to proofread yet. Sorry for any errors you'll surely encounter. I either had to post right now, or wait for whenever I'd find time again… _

**Week 13, day 3**

* * *

><p>Booth had spent most of his time last night, thinking of a different way to approach Brennan. After their fall-out yesterday, Booth had quickly finished doing the laundry and put on some different clothes. He had tried calling her multiple times, but she refused to answer. When she still had neglected to give him any sign of life in the early evening, he decided to drive over to her place. He found her car in the parking lot, but when he rang the bell of her front door, she would not open. He attempted to let himself in with the spare key that she had given him weeks ago, but the door was on its chain and would not budge any further than his big toe across her doorstep. He had sighed in frustration – or maybe it was just his sinking heart – and glanced inside. There was a light on in her living room, but he could not see her from here.<p>

He had nodded his head to no one in particular and closed the door again as he stepped back. He did not cry or yell for her. He did not spend his time talking to the door about how sorry he was. He did not sit down on her doormat, waiting for her to open up so he could sneak inside and catch her by surprise. He had turned around and walked away. He went back to his black SUV, climbed inside the vehicle and drove himself back home.

Sure, his thoughts had kept him up at night. He was worried that things would never turn out to be alright and that he was going to see this kid grow up without him as well. His arms had felt empty without his Bones in them, when he was lying alone in his bed. Still, he knew he could not just give it up and let her go without a fight. He had to get back in touch with her on her terms, otherwise she would never let him near her and keep him at an emotionally safe distance. So, Booth decided to do it differently this time. He would show her that he would always be there for her. All she would have to was close those last few steps.

* * *

><p>Brennan knew she looked terrible. She felt that way too. This pregnancy was demanding more sleep from her than she had ever needed before, but she had not gotten any. She had been lying in the dark with her eyes closed, but she found herself waiting for the hours to pass by until her alarm clock started ringing. Her hair was slightly messy; she had barely had the time to properly brush through it as she spent ages trying to make her eyes look less swollen. Cold water, make-up and a skin repair crème were supposed to do the trick.<p>

She entered the lab, nearly dragging her feet as her bag kept slapping against her side with every step she took. She felt as if she was walking on clouds; her head all fogged up from the exhaustion and her feet seemed to be detached from her body completely. She wanted to go to her office, curl up on her couch and sleep. First, though, she had to grab a box of old remains, which she had been studying before the weekend. She would take the box, grab the file and read it in her office. Alone.

Brennan was looking at the floor as she made her way to the right side, next to the forensic platform. Only when she noticed a black pair of shoes promptly standing in the way, did she look up. Her heart skipped a beat and she jumped back, bringing her hand to the tiny baby bump which was effectively hidden in a loose grey shirt. She had put on something easy, since no one was around to help her buttoning her clothes up.

"Booth…" He was not saying anything. He did not reach out for her in any way. He was just standing there, with his hands hanging down his side. It was not even like he was staring her down or daring her to say something. He appeared to be waiting for something, while just looking at her. Brennan frowned and took a deep breath as her heart rate slowed back down again. She straightened her back, turned around and walked exactly the other way to the left of the platform. Whatever. She would check her mail first. If she did not pay any attention to Booth, he would probably be gone in a matter of minutes.

Brennan refocused her gaze to the floor as all kinds of emotions surged through her. She missed Booth so much that she could actually feel it physically. She was nauseas and uncomfortable; her head ached with loss. Still, what made him think that she wanted to see him here? Did he come here to talk to her? Bring back her stuff? He had been carrying a plastic bag in his hand… Well, he could throw it in a bin and set it on fire, for all she cared.

As she marched to the other side of the lab, to quickly get as far away from Booth as she could, Brennan heard someone call her name. "Tempe!" Brennan's head whipped up automatically as she looked to see the voice's owner. Oh God… Brennan swallowed nervously as she quickened her pace and nearly took a sprint towards her office.

"Not right now, Sully. I'm very busy." She continued her march, but she heard his footsteps behind her. He was following her. The sunlight that came through the glass roof of the Jeffersonian was shining directly into her eyes now, making her even more irritable. "I have bones and emails…" …and Booth, she added in her mind, "I have to check them right now." Of course, fate or the universe decided to intervene at that exact moment by her car keys falling from the pocket of her trench coat and as Brennan bend down to pick them up, Sully managed to catch up to her.

"Can't that wait for two more minutes while I ask you out to dinner after work?" Sully folded his hands together expectantly as he stood right in front of her. He tried to get a look of her face, but she was so busy moving around and refusing to meet his eyes that talking to her like this was rather difficult.

Brennan straightened her back and shoved her car keys further down her pocket. She pulled the strap of her bag back on her shoulder and shook her head. "No." She glanced towards her office and without saying anything else, she turned herself around and walked off. Sully took a few more steps to follow her, but then decided it was best to leave her to her work.

"'No' to not having the time to talk to me about my invitation or 'no' to the whole dinner?" He raised his hands up in defeat.

Brennan opened the door to her office and turned around to finally face Sully. "'No' to both." She shrugged her shoulders, before she stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Sully let out a short gasp of air and he smiled at the ground. He placed both of his hands on his hips as he turned away from her office. "It must be that time of the month." With an amused grin on his face, he walked back to the glass sliding doors of the Jeffersonian and left.

* * *

><p>Brennan had goosebumps all over her arms as she was sitting behind her computer. She had no idea whether it was from the room's temperature – she had forgotten to turn the airconditioning off when Booth kidnapped her from work last Friday, so the room was now freezing after a whole weekend of cooling – or because of the emotions that were coursing through her. Even in her second trimester, Brennan found that she was highly receptive to feelings and atmospheres and that these pregnancy hormones still had not settled down inside of her. It was more difficult for her now, to stay compartmentalized and objective about things. Sometimes, she missed her old self just a little.<p>

Instead of reading her mail and possibly finding more messages from Booth there, Brennan decided to get back to work on the outline of her new book. She needed to get this finished and send it to her agent and editor by Friday. Brennan opened the document to view the few lines she had written down already. She sighed. She used to be more productive before she was pregnant, too. Back then, she did not have Booth to distract her either. Brennan shook her head. Enough with the thoughts of Booth!

She skimmed over the lines quickly: '_Plot: A former army friend of Andy returns to town. Andy is suspicious about his intentions. A sharpshooter is mercilessly killing powerful people across the state. One of Kathy's colleagues becomes a victim. Stricken with grief, Kathy turns to Andy for comfort. She falls pregnant.'_ Brennan sat back with a furrowed brow. This was terrible. Not only would it be obvious to everyone in the lab that she was writing about her own experience with Booth, it also made Kathy look foolish. Brennan supported her head with her hand. She had been foolish…

There was a knock on the door of her office. Brennan had closed all the blinds, thinking this would allow her to work in silence, but now she had no idea who was on the other side. "Who is it?" she called. Please, don't let it be Sully or Booth, don't let it be Sully or Booth, don't—

"It's me, sweetie. Can I come in?"

Brennan nodded her head. She could really use her best friend right now. Today was Angela's first day back on the job, after her maternity leave. This week, she would only work two days and see how it goes. "Yes, you can come in." When Angela entered her office, Brennan's eyes focused on the light blue plastic bag that Angela was holding in her hand. It was the exact same one which Booth had been holding.

Angela followed Brennan's gaze to the bag and smiled softly. "Booth asked me to give you this." She walked over to Brennan's desk and placed it down on top of it. "I didn't see what was inside." By the look of her friend, Angela could guess that it was not something she had been looking forward to receive. Her lower lip trembled as she reached for the bag. Actually, she did think it was weird that Booth did not deliver it to Brennan himself, but had asked her to do it for him. She felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. "Sweetie, what's going on?"

Brennan did not respond as she pulled the bag towards her and opened it. The sweet smell of Booth's laundry detergent greeted her as she took out one of her shirts. The laundry that she had left at his place yesterday; he had washed them for her. Brennan felt the tears stinging at the corner of her eyes and she put the shirt back with the other clothes in the back. It smelled so much like Booth that it only made her miss him more. Angela leaned forward over her desk. "Brennan?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "Booth and I got into a fight yesterday." Her voice choked on the last word and she was no longer able to stop the tears from falling. "Now everything between us is ruined and I find that I can't compartmentalize it. I don't want to split up with Booth. I don't want our child to have to travel between homes."

Angela turned herself around to grab a chair and she pulled it up in front of Brennan's desk. She sat down in it and placed her hands on her friend's desk. "Listen, I don't know the entire story yet, but I'm sure it's not all ruined. You are Booth and Brennan, for God's sake. Not even the FBI can break you guys up." She paused when Brennan looked away to wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Well, maybe I just did. I saw him when I entered the lab and he was just looking at me, not saying anything," she shrugged her shoulders in despair and slid her fingertips over the plastic bag. "I didn't know what to do, so I just walked away." The plastic crackled and Angela placed her hand over Brennan's to stop it from moving any further.

"Can we just go back to the beginning, sweetie? What exactly happened between you and Booth?" Brennan exhaled slowly and withdrew her hand to her own lap. The damned tears were still falling from her eyes, so telling her friend all about it could not make her fall apart even more than she already had.

Brennan opened her mouth, but waited to say something until she found the right words in her head. "Booth and I have been having sex for about a week now and I've started spotting. I didn't tell him, but then he found some underwear of mine yesterday and he overreacted," Brennan took a deep breath to help her collect her thoughts. "He jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong with me and he blamed me for engaging in sexual intercourse with him while knowing I was bleeding." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not bleeding."

Angela leaned forward. "Couldn't you just call a doctor or a midwife or something? To help ease his mind?"

"I could, but—" they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Brennan tried to swallow the rest of her tears, before clearing her throat. "Come in." Even if it was Sully, he would not make any obvious moves on her with Angela so she felt somewhat safe. Instead, it was Hodgins who peeked his head through the door.

"Dr. B… ," he paused when he saw the two woman looking up at him. Brennan drew her arms and folded them across her stomach. "Did I come at a bad time?"

Brennan shook her head. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the tears and her usual pale skin was now rather blotched and reddish. "No, not at all. What is it?" Any news on any case would be great. As long as it did not involve her having to call Booth and act like his professional partner.

"You've been crying," he stated with a concerned expression. His gaze than travelled over to his wife, who squinted to him, trying to telepathically convey the message to leave it alone. He shrugged his shoulders to her.

Brennan once again wiped her eyes and faked a smile. "Yes, but I'm fine now." She grabbed an elastic band from her desk and reached behind her head to fit her hair into a loose ponytail, but then realized she could not do it with her arm in a cast. She threw it down in frustration. "I'm ready to get to work." Angela got up from her seat at exactly the same time that Brennan did.

"But sweetie…," Angela tried to get her back to the previous situation, in which she had finally been able to talk about everything that had been troubling her. She knew that if Brennan got to work now, she would keep going until long after sundown and snap at everybody who would only as much as suggest she would take a break.

Brennan glanced over her best friend. Talking some more could potentially mean a complete breakdown. At work. Following Hodgins would allow her to put all her emotional conflicts to the side and focus on something more productive. She straightened her shoulders and looked back at Hodgins. "No need to tell me, I'll come and have a look myself." She walked towards Hodgins and then turned around to her friend. "We'll talk later, okay Ange?" Without awaiting the answer, she followed the entomologist out of her office.

Angela let out an exasperated sigh as she watched her friend leave. Of course she would pick looking at bones over discussing a fight with Booth. She rather chose to forget that she was hurting than actually confront all of her feelings by talking about it. Curiosity got the best of her as she looked at the plastic bag that Booth had previously handed to her. Glancing around suspiciously to make sure that no one was watching her, she extended a single finger to the bag and lifted it down so that she could peer inside.

She frowned as she looked at its contents. Laundry? He was bringing Brennan's stuff back at her work? Angela could practically feel her blood boil at the realization that he had used her as a cheap carrier and burdened her with this task. A real man surely would not have been afraid to witness some emotion and do it himself.

Taking out her cellphone, Angela quickly dialed Booth's number and waited for him to answer. Unfortunately, he was not picking up – which was probably a wise thing to do – but Angela did not hang up once she reached his voicemail. Quite the contrary. She smiled into the distance and spoke in her sweetest and most terrifying voice: "Hi, agent Booth? This is Angela, your worst nightmare. I'm calling to inform about what the hell you were thinking this morning…"

* * *

><p>Word about Booth and Brennan's fight quickly got out and spread around the entire lab like the flu. Yet, it was not so much that an actual word got out, rather than the team witnessing Booth walking into the lab and dropping Brennan's lunch bag off in her office. He did not greet anyone, nor did he look around the forensic platform. Normally, he would call out her nickname long enough until she would show up somewhere. Today, he just left. Cam raised an eyebrow at Booth, before turning back to her employee, who was bend over a gurney and not looking at her baby's father heading out again. "What's going on with you and Booth?"<p>

Brennan swallowed nervously. "We argued. Notice the circular fracture on the ulna. It could indicate that someone held on to her arm and twisted it so far that it snapped. Spousal abuse, maybe." She kept staring at the skeleton in front of her, making sure to avoid the eye of her colleagues looking at each other questioningly.

Cam watched Hodgins and Wendell with a blank expression on their faces. They apparently were just as surprised as she was. "Did you break up?'

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "Possibly." Cam, Hodgins and Wendell once again shared a look of disbelief as she did not offer more information. What happened?

"When?" Hodgins decided to enter the questioning. They had been fine last week and Brennan had not even called his wife on the phone in the weekend. Women always shared everything, right? Would Angela not be the first to know about this?

Brennan straightened her back and looked around the team with her eyes flaming in annoyance. "Yesterday morning. For the record, it had nothing to do with me having an eating disorder or any other kind of self-harm, so you won't have to speculate on that any further. It was about Booth being overprotective and me not willing to cooperate with him and we haven't talked since." She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from bursting into tears again, but her colleagues saw the shimmering wetness in her eyes. "Is that enough information for you? Can we get back to work now?"

"Woah," Wendell gasped. In her first trimester, they had misinterpreted her pregnancy symptoms as bulimia. The mystery came to a dramatic conclusion in Sweets' office, where they had planned an intervention for Brennan, but instead were surprised with the announcement of her pregnancy. It had never been brought up again, but with this lash out, it was obvious that things had not yet been resolved entirely.

Hodgins did not quite know what to say, so he resorted to humor. "Well, overprotective Booth and you unwilling to listen is nothing new. A good round of make-up sex could probably set everything straight again." Cam's mouth dropped open in shock. Wendell gasped an audible 'dude' and feared Brennan's response. She was already aggravated enough.

Brennan merely raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm not familiar with that type of intercourse."

Cam did not know how this conversation had derailed so quickly. Just ten minutes ago, they had been discussing a case! Wendell could hardly believe his ears. "You're not?" For as far as he knew, every sexually active being has had hot and angry sex at some point.

Hodgins felt the need to elaborate. "It's when you're all worked up during or after an argument with your—"

"Okay, that's it." Cam quickly cut them all off by switching of the lamp lighting the gurney. Three pair of eyes were looking at her questioningly. Brennan looked almost wild, being forced to look up at her boss. Cam, headstrong and fearless as she was when it came to employees, stared right back at Brennan and placed both of her hands on her hips. "You're done for the day."

Brennan shook her head. "No, I'm not." She held up her right arm to check her watch. "I won't be finished until at least another four hours."

"No, you're done now. You can take off your coat and grab your things in your office, but then you're going home." Wendell and Hodgins watched in fascination as Brennan felt unnerved by this sudden statement of her boss. She switched her weight from one foot to the other as confusion painted her face.

"Why?"

Cam shrugged her shoulders. "Because you're pregnant and you're so stressed out about a fight with the father that you're taking it out on us. Your handwriting has become completely unreadable, helping us nothing and you've only been sprouting such basic information that I might as well have hired Google for this case." Cam took a small pause to catch her breath. "But mostly because I say so."

"Th-that's not a valid argument to send me away!" Brennan complained.

Cam smiled. "Oh, yes it is. As your boss, I'm putting you on a mandatory leave of absence starting now." Brennan opened her mouth to defend herself, but Cam quickly continued. "If you don't go right now, I will extend it to an entire week instead of a single afternoon."

This caught Brennan completely off guard. Cam had the power to make such decisions and she knew that her last sentence was not so much a threat as it was a promise. Pressing her lips together into an angry tight line, she hooked her pinky finger of the casted arm into the glove of her right hand and snapped it off. Just like she was expected to, she stepped besides Hodgins and stormed off without saying another word.

* * *

><p>Brennan felt miserable as she walked down the stairs and into the parking lot of the Jeffersonian. She had found the lunch bag, which Booth had carefully prepared for her. She had tossed it in the trash. Being forced to go home and the prospect of sitting there the rest of the day in nothing but silence to keep her company was making her feel physically ill. She was nauseas and achy and she had no idea how she was going to get over this. Brennan turned a right at the bottom of the staircase and stopped in her tracks when she recognized a familiar back a little further down the parking lot. A couple of feet away from her car, Special Agent Seeley Booth was knelt down next to his car. A spare tire rested on the ground beside him.<p>

Brennan felt her body start to tremble. She was missing him so much that every cell in her body was screaming at her to make a run towards him and jump back into his arms. This baby, _their_ baby, was making her very needy. Brennan fought that urge with every step that she was taking towards her own car. Unfortunately, she was wearing heels today, so the sounds of her ticking footsteps alerted him to her presence long before she had reached the Prius.

Booth turned around and their eyes met. Brennan's breath caught in her throat, but she forced her feet to walk on and keep her expression neutral. She unlocked the car and tried to open the back door as casually as she could. Her hand was shaking when she placed her own bag, as well as Booth's plastic one, in the car and she hoped he did not noticed that.

Before she closed the door again, she accidentally turned her head to glance at Booth. He had gotten up from the ground, leaving the tire and the tools he had used to change it there. He was now standing still, his hands placed on his hips and he waited. Brennan looked into his warm brown eyes and she felt her own well up with tears again. He gave her a small smile when they looked at each other and that is when the last of her resistance crumbled.

Blame it on the hormones or her realization that she loved him and needed him, but she abandoned her own car and walked towards him. She did not want to suffer. She wanted to be wrapped up into his arms and feel her lips move against his. She wanted to wake up beside him again and argue over who forgot to put the cap back on the toothpaste. She wanted him to be hers and stay that way for the rest of their lives. She was helplessly drawn towards him like a moth to flame; so enticing yet potentially scarring.

Booth opened his arms to her when she was only a few more steps away from him and she gratefully walked into them. "I'm sorry," she said. "I love you. I love you so much and I didn't want to hurt you. I don't want to lose you." She spoke into his chest, inhaling the scent of him and his coat and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Booth responded by wrapping his around her shoulders and giving her a gentle squeeze against his body. "I'm sorry too, Bones. You are perfectly capable of taking care of you and the baby. You just need some encouragement when it comes to your nutrition, but…, " He dropped one arm so he could lift up her chin towards his face, "you won't lose me. I won't go anywhere unless you ask me to, Bones. I promise." He lowered his head so he could gently kiss her lips. "And I love you too."

"I know," she breathed against his lips. "You told me so many times, Booth, but now I know for certain that I reciprocate all of that." She kissed him a little more forcefully. "I don't care about science right now. I'm not interested in any explanation of hormones inducing feelings." She leaned back a little so she could look at him. "I love you. I just do."

Booth reached a hand up to caress the side of the face. "Let's just…go to the diner together, alright? We could talk some more and feed your craving of the day."

Brennan shook her head. "No."

"No?"

Brennan stepped a little closer towards him, pressing her upper body against his and reveling in his warmth. Had it really only been one day? "Hodgins mentioned something about make-up sex and I'm anxious to try it. That is…unless you want me to see Analeigh first."

Booth shook his head this time. "No, no need. You're a scientist. If your research showed that spotting is normal and we're not endangering the baby by making love, than I trust that. I trust you." Brennan smiled and leaned in for another kiss. "But I'm still taking you out for lunch afterwards, so you can have your herring with whipped cream or whatever."

She kissed him one last time before she stepped away from him. "Pickles with cheese and salsa dip." Booth smiled and bend down to pick up his tire and carry it around to the trunk of his car. "Now, can we go home?"

"Yes, Bones, we'll go home once I've tucked all this away. I had a flat tire…" Booth quickly gathered his tools from the ground and put them away. "Your place or mine?"

"Ours," Brennan said. "You can choose which one of the two."

* * *

><p><em>Ally's Note: I've suffered major writer's block on this one, but I'm glad it's finished now. I can move on to other storylines…or maybe not. Has it turned out alright even though the wait was long? Tell me in a review or on Twitter (at)AllysonHale .<em>

_I haven't just been sitting still though! If you haven't already, you can check out my one-shot on a postpartum Brennan, called 'One Sweet Love'. I've also started another continuous story called 'Booth and Brennan's (Mis)adventures, which will have different scenarios of B&B. Your input and ideas are very welcome in the latter! _

_The next day: Remember that angsty chapter that I've been keeping from you? Yeah, you're going to get it now. Booth and Brennan may have made up for now, but other problems always arise. The one that I got planned? Major problem… And what kind of message did Angela leave on Booth's voicemail?_


	6. Week 13, day 4

**Jump Start **by Allyson Hale

_Ally's Note: Yes, yes, yes, you've already given up on me ever getting back to this story, but here I am! Back during hiatus! I should change my name to Hiatus Hale. Anyway, I come with a very long chapter. There's a lot of blood, but also a bit of lightheartedness. Strange combo? Oh, I know, but the usual peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich gets old after a while, right? _

Week 13, day 4

* * *

><p>Booth awoke by a hand that wrapped itself around his upper arm, shaking him not too gently. "Booth." He heard the owner of the hand speak, trying to permeate all the way through to his dreams. "Booth, wake up." The female voice spoke not too loud, but it was not a whisper either. It was just enough to pull him from his sleep, without startling him. "Booth." He stirred once and opened his eyes to meet his girlfriend, looking down at him.<p>

"Bones," his voice broke. "Is something wrong?" He placed a gentle hand on top of hers, which was still resting on his arm. Her mouth was slightly opened and her eyes looked a little glassy. She was looking concerned or shocked, maybe a mix of both. Booth sat up straight in bed, propping himself up on his hands as he did so. Her lack of reply to his question instantly warned him. "Bones, what is it?"

"I—" Brennan's voice trailed off as she looked down her body. Booth's eyes followed hers as she pushed the sheets down her body, revealing the problem. A large angry red stain colored her white jogging pants from the crotch down her thighs. "I'm bleeding. Quite heavily." She pushed the covers off of herself entirely and Booth could see the big round spot that had formed on the sheets below.

"Oh Bones…" was all Booth managed to say as he looked at it in horror. This was not just a little bit of blood. This was the potentially dangerous victim-could-go-into-shock-if-untreated- kind of amount. He did not need his army training to know that he was going to have to take her to a doctor, right now. Setting his own worry aside, he glanced back up at Brennan with a neutral look. "I'm calling Analeigh. Do you think you'd be able to get dressed or will you need my help?"

Brennan shook her head as she slowly got up from the bed, terrified that any sort of movement would increase the bleeding. "No, I'll be fine." However, Booth saw her shaking hand as she reached for the clothing that she had been wearing the previous day. He continued watching her as she turned herself around and walked away from the bed. "I'm just going to the bathroom."

Booth reached for his cellphone on the nightstand. "Don't lock the door," he called out to her. Brennan left it slightly opened in response as she disappeared into the cold white room. Hitting some buttons on his phone, Booth quickly found Analeigh's name in his contact list and dialed her number. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" A young, sleepy voice answered. Booth jumped up from the bed instantly, picking up his clothes from the ground as he spoke:

"Analeigh? This is Booth, Temperance Brennan's partner," Booth replied.

There was a small chuckle. "I know who you are," she answered, friendly. "What can I do for you at three A.M., mister Booth?" Booth checked the clock. Amidst the stress, he had not once considered the fact that it was night and that she could have been sleeping too. However, this was an emergency in Booth's opinion, and she had told him to call any day, at any time if that were the case.

"Bones—Temperance, she's bleeding," Booth announced, while trapping the phone between his shoulder and his head as he pulled on his black pants.

"Okay, that is very serious. I'm glad you're calling. How much is she bleeding exactly? How many pads did she soak through?"

Booth frowned. Pads? "I don't know about that. She just woke me up and her pants are stained, as well as the sheets of our bed. It's all…bright red and it appears to be a lot." Booth walked around the bed with his upper body still naked and yanked the sheets from the bed. The matrass had a medium sized dark circle on it too. Booth sighed. He would deal with that later.

"Is there any clotting?" Analeigh questioned.

Booth had no idea. He practically ran to the bathroom, where Brennan was sitting on the toilet, carefully guiding her casted arm through a sleeve. She looked up at him questioningly. "I've got Analeigh on the phone, " Booth explained. "She wants to know if there's any clotting."

Brennan shook her head. Her eyes filled themselves with tears as she added: "Not yet."

Booth pushed the button to put Analeigh on speaker and placed his phone down on the towel shelve. He helped Brennan pull her sweater over her head and smoothed the fabric down her back. "She says 'no'." Booth spoke to the phone. Booth and Brennan's eyes met briefly as Booth knelt down before her to help put on some new underwear and her pants.

"I told you I didn't need your help," Brennan spoke in a soft voice. Their eyes remained locked when Booth's hand accidentally brushed against her naked ankle.

"I know."

"What about Temperance?" The voice coming from the phone made them both look at the towel shelve and broke their intense eye contact. "Is she in pain somewhere or does she feel any cramping?"

Booth went back to helping her dress as she replied. "None, whatsoever. I just woke up feeling sticky." Booth's eyes travelled up her legs and he hardly dared himself to look at her inner thighs. He mastered the courage to do so, but he frowned when he did not encounter any blood. Brennan knew what he was looking for and pointed towards the bath tub. When Booth looked inside, he saw her blood stained clothing, as well as a red washcloth which had formerly been a brown color.

"Temperance, don't worry… that is a good sign. Still, I think it would be best if you would come over to the birthing center. I'll call the obstetrician and head over there myself now too. We'll examine you and then take action from there, alright? You don't have to assume the worst just yet." Analeigh tried to reassure her over the phone.

A few tears managed to escape Brennan's eyes as Booth continued to help her dress. "But if I'm not miscarrying, what else could cause me to lose this much blood? Something _has _to be wrong!" Booth gestured at her feet and then towards the bedroom. Brennan nodded when she understood he was going to get her shoes.

"If there is, we'll find out. Don't worry, we're going to take the best care of you. The on call obstetrician is Doctor Fox. He's really nice and thorough and I'll be with you, every step. Really, it's way too early to worry, Temperance. It could just be a sign of cervical inflammation or a treatable infection."

When Booth returned, he had put on one of his simple grey shirts and his own shoes. In his hands, he carried Brennan's shoes and her coats. "We'll be right over, Analeigh," Booth spoke up, his heart breaking at the sight of his Bones in tears.

"Alright, mister Booth. I'll see you in a little while then. If anything changes or if Temperance starts feeling worse, please call again. In the meantime, try to keep her at ease. Wrap her up in a nice warm blanket and put on some relaxing music in the car. All this stress is definitely not good for a baby."

"Okay. See you soon." Booth greeted her goodbye rather quickly and then focused on Brennan again. "This…in my apartment…I don't have any." Brennan frowned at him, not understanding him at all. "You know?" He pointed downwards. Brennan cocked her head to the side. Condoms? Why would they need any now?

There was an awkward moment between the two where neither of them said or did anything. Brennan let out an exasperated breath. "Booth, I'm really not in the mood right now to decipher your cryptic language, so please, for once could you risk being uncomfortable and just tell me what you mean, already?"

Booth took a deep breath and decided he would feel the safest by just looking at the ceiling. "Women supplies. I don't have any of those. There, I've said it." He then turned back to Brennan was sending him a half smile. "I don't think I can leave you here like this to drive by the nearest gas station and pick something up. We shouldn't waste any time."

Brennan straightened her shoulders. "You mean pads? That's a very normal word, Booth, there's really no need for you to get prudish about it!" But she softened when she noticed the concerned look on his face. "I agree. Paper and towels are going to have to do."

Booth walked over to the towel shelf and grabbed a stack of towels, while grabbing his phone again. Carefully moving towards her, he placed them on the ground next to her. "Help yourself. I'm going to get you that warm blanket Analeigh recommended, okay?" He was just about ready to turn around and leave the bathroom, until Brennan called him back.

"Booth? You're never going to get all these blood stains out in the laundry," Brennan warned him. Maybe he had some other old towels instead. She felt bad for making him sacrifice these nice fluffy ones. Actually, she felt bad about a lot of things. If she had listened to him and gone to Analeigh to have that spotting checked out, could she have prevented this heavy flow, maybe? Was this her body's way of telling her that she had not been looking after herself well enough? Was this all her fault?

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care about these towels, Bones. We can pick out new ones for our place together afterwards. Take as many as you need." When he noticed how she was not moving and continued staring at her feet, Booth paused. "Bones, I know we only talked briefly about this before, but… you do know I'm never going to leave you, right? No matter what happens. I'll always be right by your side." This caught Brennan's attention and she finally looked back up at him. These pale blue eyes; he could not imagine a day without seeing them anymore. "I love you."

A tiny smile and then: "I know. I love you too, Booth." He would have kissed her if it had not been for the urgency of the situation.

* * *

><p>As expected, neither the blanket nor the relaxing music was having an effect on the distressed Booth and Brennan. In the car, they were silent as Booth hurried them through the streets, to downtown Washington DC. Brennan kept fidgeting in her seat, worrying Booth even more.<p>

"Bones, are you sure you're not in pain?" Booth questioned, glancing sideways for the umpteenth time. He had found a long dark blue blanket and covered her shoulders with it. She had wrapped it around herself and inhaled the scent of Booth's laundry detergent comfortingly. He had picked her up and carried her towards the cars, despite her complaints that she was perfectly able to walk on her own. Booth had argued about the risk of her fainting and then hitting her head on the stone tiled floor outside. Brennan had been feeling a little dizzy indeed and decided she would just let him be the alpha male that he was for now. "You would tell me, right? If you were in pain?"

"I'm alright, Booth. I'm just—" Her voice trailed off and she turned her head away to look through the passenger's window. Booth frowned at her sudden hesitation to share more information with him.

"You're just what, Bones?" He pressed her a little. He watched her moistening her lips with her tongue and swallowing nervously, before she looked down at her lap again.

There was a small silence in which Brennan collected her words to form a coherent sentence. "I would be really upset if we lose it." She forced herself to sit up straighter. "This fetus… or baby, as you'd prefer to call it… It grew on me. I know that everything could be explained by hormones and instinct, but," she paused to take a deep breath. "I already have some feelings for it. I sometimes find myself fantasizing about what it's going to look like and hoping it will take after you. I have stopped picturing a life alone and all I see now is you, me and a baby." Another unwanted tear fell down her cheek and Brennan quickly wiped it away, hoping Booth had not noticed yet. "If I miscarry, what will I have to go back to?"

Booth felt his heart and head ache simultaneously as he heard her grief-stricken words. "You'll go back to picturing you, me and a baby." Brennan cocked a questioning eyebrow at him. "Bones, you heard Analeigh. It could be a cervical infection or something that's not harmful to the baby. Even in the worst case scenario, I will always stick by you." Booth took this moment to take his eyes off of the road and look at her, staring at him. "You're not _just _the mother of my child. We're not _just _that one time we ended up in bed. Bones, you are my future, if you can let me be yours."

There was a horn blowing from outside and Booth quickly steered the car back to the right lane. Brennan took a moment to let his words sink in, before she replied: "But if I lose it, I'm not your future with that baby anymore."

"Why not? We conceived a baby once, so surely we can do it again. It's really not as hard as you are making it in your head, Bones."

Her hands tightened on the fabric of the blanket. "But suppose I'd want to wait trying for another baby… what would you say to me, waking up next to me in the morning?" Their lives had been turned upside down by this pregnancy. What would being a normal couple be like for them?

Booth's face broke out into a sly grin. "That will be two hundred bucks, please." Brennan could not help it as she replied with one of her own and laughed sincerely for the first time this night.

* * *

><p>"Booth wouldn't let me walk, but I can if you want me to," Brennan excused herself as Booth brushed past Analeigh and into the examination room. Analeigh gestured for Booth to set her down on the grey exam table and closed the door. Behind the computer was a young man in a long white coat, quickly typing away.<p>

"It's alright. You've told me before that he was the slightest bit overprotective. I'm glad to see you, Temperance and mister Booth." She shook their hands and grabbed a chair for Booth and a stool on wheels for herself. She shoved the stool next to Brennan, on the opposite side of where Booth sat down. "I just arrived here myself, so I still have to dress myself up properly," Analeigh excused, gesturing at her loose blonde hair and the white tanktop she was wearing on top of her simple brown pants.

"No problem," Booth replied, looking at the man behind the computer questioningly. Analeigh followed his eyes into his direction as she was tying her hair up in ponytail.

"Over there is doctor Fox. He was already here for another client and he's finishing up some reports. He'll be right with us," Analeigh explained. The young man looked up from the computer and amicably raised his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Temperance, mister Booth. Like Analeigh said, I'll be right over. I just have a few brilliant medical words in my head right now that I'd better write down now before I forget them. In the meanwhile, Analeigh will ask you some questions and prepare you for what's to come. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure," Booth said, glancing at Brennan who was nodding in agreement.

Analeigh had found her nursing jacket and was buttoning up as the doctor spoke. Flipping her ponytail back over the collar of the sterile white uniform, she turned back to Brennan and placed a chart right next to the ultrasound screen. It was close enough for Brennan to read her name and date of birth, as well as the words 'MISCARRIAGE (THREATENED?)', typed in capitals. Brennan quickly tore her eyes away from the confronting piece of paper to look at the midwife. "Okay," she started, "what we're going to do now is that I'll indeed be asking some questions, other than the ones I asked on the phone. It's important that you answer me truthfully and don't worry about me or mister Booth getting angry or something like that. Afterwards, doctor Fox will step in. I will tell him about you in short and recommend some tests. Doctor Fox will then agree or disagree with me and potentially add some tests. He will do the physical exams and the ultrasounds and I will watch with him. He's going to decide what to do next. I will mostly be here for moral support today." She smiled reassuringly.

"Okay," Brennan responded. "I'm ready for the questions." She sat up a little straighter so she could look across the room a little better. Booth wanted to help her up, but she swatted his hand away. She still was not disabled.

Analeigh sat down on the stool and grabbed the chart again. "Okay, first question. Have you used any over the counter medication? Ibuprofen, naproxen, etcetera?" Brennan shook her head and Analeigh made notes on the chart. "How's your caffeine intake. Do you drink a lot of coffee or coke?"

"I have actually quit drinking coffee." Brennan said, glancing at Booth. "For now."

"Very good!" Analeigh smiled. "How about any alcohol or drugs?" Brennan shook her head again. "Cigarettes?"

"None."

"Did you come into contact with toxic substances such as formaldehyde, benzene or arsenic?" Brennan once again shook her head. There were plenty of toxic substance present at the lab. Especially Cam and Hodgins used them to obtain something from the bones or to deflesh them. The positive thing about everyone knowing about her pregnancy was that she could now delegate these tasks and everyone would understand why. "Have you suffered any physical trauma during pregnancy?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders. "I broke my arm, but as you know, that was weeks ago. That is all." Booth stared at her as she spoke. Mentally, he was praying to God and whatever saint was willing to hear him right now. He wanted Bones and the baby to both be healthy. This bleeding would just be a nightmare and in the morning, he'd wake up right next to his stubborn girlfriend.

Analeigh nodded. "Last question. Have you been taking that folic acid that I've given you?"

"I even made sure that she did," Booth said, winking at Brennan.

"Alright, then we're done so far," she looked over to the doctor who was now finished typing. He got up from his chair and walked over to Booth and Brennan. Extending his hand, he smiled at both of them in a friendly manner as he introduced himself.

"I am doctor Frederick Fox, one of the two obstetricians that work at this baby center. Nice to meet you, Temperance and mister Booth." They shook hands while Analeigh flipped through Brennan's chart quickly. "Analeigh has explained to you what we're going to do tonight. She's now going to tell me about you and your pregnancy in a nutshell and then we'll go on with the actual examinations." Booth and Brennan nodded.

Analeigh grabbed another stool from the side of the room and wheeled it towards the doctor, who sat down at Brennan's feet. "This is doctor Temperance Brennan, thirty-four years old, thirteen and a half weeks pregnant. It's her first pregnancy and she's due in late December. No real anomalies in her first trimester, although she has been dehydrated a little. No hospitalization necessary at that point, but I have been pressuring her into drinking more. Fainted once and broke her arm during the fall. Otherwise, no trifles. She's a non-smoker and has no family history of diseases or medical conditions, except for mister Booth. He's had brain surgery to remove a tumor two years ago."

The doctor nodded and took the file from her. "Her last appointment was one and a half week ago. Blood pressure and ultrasound were fine, no anomalies. Tonight, I received a call from mister Booth, that Temperance had started bleeding." She looked over to the couple who were watching them intently. "Maybe you could tell more from here?"

Brennan cleared her throat and spoke up: "I've had spotting for about a week now. It came out of nowhere, the day after we had engaged in sexual intercourse for the first time in a while. It didn't get worse, but it didn't stop either. I researched some literature and it told me not to worry, so I didn't." Brennan swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. "I awoke, feeling something sticky between my legs. I looked down and I had been bleeding. My clothes were soaked, as the sheets on the bed. It hasn't stopped. I went to the bathroom and the bleeding just continued. We didn't have any pads, so we've used towels and toilet paper instead."

Doctor Fox added some notes to Brennan's chart. "So you're saying it started the day after you had sex. What color was the spotting?"

"Dark red, almost brown. But the bleeding now is a brighter red." Booth nodded. He had his fair share of seeing her blood in the past few days. He hated that over the top fallout they had had over it. It had only caused stress and they had gained nothing by it.

"Have you experienced any discomfort or pain? Cramping, maybe?" Brennan shook her head.

"How about now? Are you feeling dizzy or light-headed?"

"Just a little," Brennan answered. "but that could just be a rush of hormones which I'm currently experiencing, due to intense anxiety over the baby." Booth reached for her hand and she gratefully laced her fingers through his.

Doctor Fox nodded some more and glanced up at Analeigh. He did not appear to be older than thirty. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing simple black glasses, contrasting sharply with his crispy white doctors coat. He wore a stethoscope around his neck, giving him a classic, stereotypical look. In his breast pocket, he kept a pocket light, a few pens and a scissors. "What do you think, Ana?"

"I'd suggest doing a CBC, pelvic exam and an ultrasound. That should be enough to tell us whether or not a miscarriage has taken place and what kind." Analeigh said. She looked at Booth and could tell that more information was necessary for him to understand what they wanted to put Brennan through. "CBC is a complete blood count. It will help us determine how much blood she's lost. Pelvic exam is one that she had before, to check the uterus and cervix."

Doctor Fox pushed the glasses further up his nose and wrote some last things down on the chart, before handing it to Analeigh. "I agree. Possibly, you're going to need to schedule regular hCG blood tests, to keep tracking the amount of pregnancy hormones, but that is for later concern. Let's get to work. If you could draw some blood and send it to the lab with an urgent label, I'll do the pelvic exam. That is, if you agree with our plan. " Booth and Brennan both nodded.

"Alright. I'll collect the materials." Analeigh turned herself around and opened some wall cabinets to take out a needle, syringe and some vials. She grabbed some stickers and a lab form and then the doctor blocked Brennan's view. "Temperance, do you think you could get undressed from the waist down or will you need some help?"

Brennan shook her head. "No, I'll be fine, but the bleeding…" She looked at Booth in terror. She did not want to get naked and…drip all over the place. The mess she had caused at home was bad enough. Creating one here would make things even more embarrassing than they already were. Booth understood what she was trying to say and quickly thought of a solution.

"She'll get dizzy if she stands up. Can she dress down on the table? I could help her. If you have a couple of these absorbent mats to place underneath her?" Booth suggested.

"I don't see why not," doctor Fox said. Analeigh reappeared to hand Booth a couple of mats and handed a sheet to Brennan which she could use to cover herself with. She smiled reassuringly. Booth attempted to smiled back.

"We'll give you some privacy, then." With a small tug, she closed the curtain around Booth and Brennan and cut them off from all view. For a small moment Booth was standing next to Brennan in awkward silence. Undressing his girlfriend so a doctor could look at her…parts, sounded just a little bit easier than actually doing it.

Brennan dropped the blanket for her shoulders and lifted herself up to pull it away from underneath her. She handed it to Booth, who carefully placed it on the chair he had been sitting on. "So, uh… how can I help?" Brennan reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped her pants.

"You could get naked too. Maybe I'd feel better if I wasn't the only one not wearing any pants." Booth was glad he noticed the playful glint in her eye as she gestured for Booth to bring her the absorbent mats. As he did so, she lifted up her bottom and placed them underneath her. She shuffled further down the examination table, closer to the stirrups where she was going to have to rest her legs in.

"Bones," he said, as she raised her bottom up again to pull her pants and underwear down. "Maybe you should let me help you again. You could…strain something." He walked over to the end of the examination bed and Brennan quickly grabbed the sheet to cover herself.

"Don't look at me!" She gasped. "I'm all bloody and unsexy. I don't want you to see me like this! You'll get all uncomfortable and you'll never want to have sex with me again." She was staring up at him with widened eyes and Booth could not force back the chuckle that made its way up his throat.

He grabbed her feet and gently took her shoes off. "I'm really not thinking about sex now, don't worry." He shoved his hands underneath the sheets without looking and tugged her pants and underwear down her legs. As soon as he had pulled them off, one of the towels fell to the ground and Booth had to swallow back the bile that he suddenly tasted in his mouth. Yet another stain. More blood.

"You haven't seen me naked without thinking about sex," Brennan remarked cleverly.

Booth quickly snapped out of his staring at the towel and hastily threw it in a bin at the back of the room. He ignored Brennan's frown as he placed one hand on his hip as he placed the rest of her clothes on the chair with the blanket. "That is not true, Bones. You are the one who can't stop thinking about sex. Especially these past few weeks. What's gotten into you?"

"You, obviously," Brennan said, suddenly feeling bold. Booth smirked as he leaned in closer to her face, but then a head peeked in through the curtains and Booth jumped back quickly.

"Look, you're free to bicker all you want, but only if it helps you relax. If he's getting you all worked up now, Temperance, I'll make him wait in a cold corner in the hallway," Analeigh smiled playfully. Booth shook his head.

"That won't be necessary. We will behave from now on," he spoke, sending Brennan a warning glare. He was thankful that the mood had lightened a little bit. This situation was hard on both of them and he wanted desperately to make it as easy as possible for the both of them.

Analeigh then looked at Brennan. "Are you ready?"

Brennan felt like biting her lip until it bled. Anything to stop her from crying. On the one hand she needed to find out what was going on, but on the other hand she was terrified of learning about the results. "Yes," she answered bravely. Placing her legs in the stirrups, she felt Booth's hand grasp hers again and she squeezed it tightly, just because she could. Analeigh appeared with all the supplies that she needed to draw blood. The doctor followed her, holding a tray with a box of latex gloves, a bottle of lubricant and a speculum. He grabbed a stool and sat down in front of Brennan.

"Alright," he said. "First, I'm just going to put some light pressure on your lower abdomen. I want to check the size and shape of your uterus. I won't hurt you, but I will feel around a little bit, okay? I'll have to lower the sheet a little so I can see what I'm doing. Are you comfortable with mister Booth being here?"

Brennan avoided eye contact with everybody and just stared up at the ceiling, while holding Booth's hand. "Yes," she managed to choke out. She felt Booth stroke his hand over her hair, but she wanted him to stop. He was only making her feel more vulnerable and fragile than she already felt. The sheet was pulled further down her body and she felt the doctor place a hand between her hip bones.

"She's starting showing a little bit. Not very much, but that's normal for a first pregnancy at thirteen weeks." He pressed down a little, moving from left to right and then back again. "Shape is good; womb is around grapefruit size. I'm guessing a 110 millimeters." The doctor dictated while Analeigh scribbled his remarks down.

"Do you want me to get you the measuring tape?" she asked.

Doctor Fox shook his head. "No need. This appears to be normal." He retreated his hand from Brennan's belly and quickly pulled the sheet back up and over her hips. "Now, I'm going to get to the uncomfortable part. I'm going to use this speculum to widen your vagina a little bit so I can get a good look at your cervix. This is really important. If it's widened or thinned out, it's a sign that you have or are miscarrying. If you're not, than chances are very big you're still going to have a healthy baby."

Booth frowned as he stared at the motionless Brennan. "But then why would she be bleeding so much?"

The doctor quickly pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed the speculum to warm it in his covered hands. "Numerous reasons. It could be a burst blood vessel; that can cause a heavy flow of blood which will stop on its own again. An inflammation can cause bleeding too, but we'll find out soon enough." He covered the speculum with the lubricating fluid and then glanced underneath the sheet. "Definitely still bleeding, not too much, though. The blood is a bright red."

Booth's head shot up in surprise. Not too much? What about that goddamn towel and all the clothing that she soaked through? The doctor gently placed one hand on Brennan's knee. "When you're ready, Temperance, you can let your knees fall to the side. Yes, that's it. I'm going to insert the speculum in the vagina now and carefully spread the walls a little. Just enough so I can see the cervix." Booth watched as Brennan gritted her teeth a little, but did not make a sound. Analeigh was watching over Fox's shoulder as he got to work.

"There it is," the doctor said. "The cervix is not dilated and does not appear effaced either. That's almost text book perfect. When the doctor rotated the speculum to the side, Brennan winced and moaned softly. All three of them instantly focused on Brennan.

"Ow, that really hurt! I'm a bit sensitive there," she took a few calming deep breaths to help herself relax again. "Okay, now you can continue."

The doctor looked some more, but then shook his head. "I've seen enough. No widening or thinning out of the cervix, making miscarriage unlikely. The cervix doesn't seem swollen, but given your sensitivity to the touch as well as your claim that the spotting started after sexual intercourse, it's possible that there's an inflammation somewhere anyway. I'd still like to do that ultrasound to check for a heartbeat. Then, I can properly rule out all sorts of miscarriage. This will then count as a threatened miscarriage."

Now, it was Brennan's turn to look up. "If it is, will that make this a high risk pregnancy then? I know that I will have to go to the hospital then and that I won't be allowed to give birth here anymore and... I'd rather stay here, under Analeigh's supervision." The doctor cleaned Brennan up with some wipes and then helped her retract her feet from the stirrups.

"If the ultrasound comes back normal and you promise to follow all of Ana's advices to the best of your ability, I won't classify you as high risk. Seventy percent of the women who've suffered of a threatened miscarriage continue to have normal pregnancies with healthy babies. Ana will consult me if things change with you or deviate from normal anyway." The doctor leaned back as he snapped off his gloves and looked at Analeigh. "If you could draw the blood for the CBC, I'll set everything up for the ultrasound."

* * *

><p>Brennan and Booth watched anxiously as doctor Fox rolled the Doppler wand across Brennan's slightly swollen belly. At first, he did not stop at certain places, like Analeigh usually did and Brennan was scared for a moment, that he could not find it. But then , a grainy figure showed up in a seemingly blackish balloon. Striking a couple of keys on the computer, Fox initiated the sound of a quick buzzing filling the room. He pointed his fingers to the ultrasound screen. "There is your little baby, resting comfortably, completely oblivious to all your worries and the bleeding. It has a normal heart rate and the fluttering looks normal." He hit some more keys to zoom in on the baby's heart. He pointed at some figures that Booth and Brennan could not even distinguish. "Do you agree, midwife Analeigh?"<p>

"I do, doctor. Everything appears to be completely normal with this little patient. Now, what will we do with its mom?" Analeigh winked at Booth, who had been able to tear his eyes from the screen for a while to look at the narrators. Brennan needed more time, however, and continued staring at the screen. This was real. She was still pregnant with Booth's baby and it was very much alive in her womb. She had been so sure that she had lost it, that all the anxiety instantly forced its way out when she found out it was alright. Brennan burst out crying out of nowhere, but the only one she surprised with this level of emotion was herself. Booth pressed a loving kiss to her forehead and gave her hand another affectionate squeeze.

Doctor Fox printed some pictures of the ultrasound and handed them to Analeigh. "I do think we're dealing with a threatened miscarriage here. The cause of the bleeding is difficult to determine. I'm leaning mostly towards inflammation right now, but there's no way we can know for sure." When he looked up, he met her eye. "I'd rather have her admitted to the hospital for one night. Especially given her history of dehydration, they can start her on an IV with plenty of fluids there and keep an eye on her and the bleeding."

Analeigh thought for a while and then nodded. "In some cases, dehydration is the main cause of a threatened miscarriage."

"Exactly." Fox leaned in and shut off the monitor of the ultrasound and pulled the Doppler wand from Brennan's belly. He handed her a towel to clean the jelly off of her skin. "So, this is what I'd like to do: Temperance, you're spending a night at the hospital to get rehydrated. Check regularly for the bleeding. If it gets worse, have the doctor on the ward there call me immediately. I expect it to stop by itself though. Also, I'm putting you on pelvic rest for two weeks. That doesn't mean you have to stay in bed, but just that you shouldn't put anything in your vagina for the time being. So, no having sex, no tampons, no nothing, okay?"

Brennan nodded her head, still wiping away the tears. "It's just to prevent any possible inflammation from getting worse and leading to an actual miscarriage," Analeigh explained. "I think you should come and see me again next week. Just to tell me how you're doing and to make sure that everything is still going as planned with the pregnancy."

"We'll do anything, right, Bones?" Booth replied. She was now nodding in compliance, but he knew her well enough to realize that she was going to give him hell after a couple of days of living by these rules.

"Good. I will call the hospital, then. I'll tell them to prepare a nice and comfy bed for you." Doctor Fox excused himself and went back to his desk, sitting down behind the computer and reaching for the telephone that was right next to the screen.

Analeigh helped Brennan sit back up. "I'll get you some pads. We have thousands of those here. You'll find it to be a lot more effective than paper and towels." Brennan smiled gratefully before the young midwife walked off.

"You should help her find her sister, Booth. She deserves to. She comes down here in the middle of the night, leaving her husband and child behind. This is something we could help her with! We are nice people too!" Brennan pleaded with teary eyes.

Booth grimaced. "Bones… I think that's very noble of you and I do want to help her too, but I can't." Brennan furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. "For one reason, we're involved with her personally. She's our midwife; we can't start busting in on her own private life and dig up dirt in her garden. That would mess everything up between us. Also, her sister was last seen on a plane to Portugal. I don't have any jurisdiction there, so I can't lead any investigations there. There's nothing I can do, Bones."

Brennan was about to reply, when the curtain reopened and Analeigh had returned with some pads to get her through the next couple of days at the least. "You're going to be fine," she said with a wink. "I know you are. And I always know everything." She left again so that Brennan could get dressed again in private. This time, Booth let her do it on our own, like she had requested. He had politely turned himself around and was staring at the patterns of the stripes in the curtains until she spoke up to him.

"I'm going to be okay." Booth turned around to find her standing next to the examination table, completely dressed and staring at his face in determination. "I'm going to have to drink more. A lot more, but I'm going to be okay," she approached him very slowly. "I'm going to give you a healthy baby and we're all going to be happy in our own place." When she was close enough, he pulled her into his arms quickly and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her once, twice, maybe three times before Analeigh pulled the curtain back and announced that she too would love to get back to bed.

* * *

><p>Booth drove her to the hospital straight away. By that time, it was already five thirty in the morning. He was going to have to show up at work in two hours. As much as he hated having to leave her behind in a ward full of sick people, Brennan insisted that was the right thing to do. Staying behind with her, would only create suspicion with the FBI. He never doubted their plan to keep their relationship more than at moments like these.<p>

Booth had made sure that Brennan was tucked safely in a hospital bed before he left her. He had bought two coffees (one decaf) on his way to work, out of habit. He knew that he would be just fine finishing them both before the actual start of his shift. While driving, he noticed he still had one voicemail message left on his cell phone that he had not yet listened to. It was from two days ago, by an anonymous phone number. Booth turned the volume up and listened as the message played:

"_Hi, Agent Booth? This is your worst nightmare. Haven't you been taught about the consequences of hurting someone's best friend? Today, I found mine crying, over something you have said to her. She is now terrified to have a baby grow up without a father. Now, I know you know what would be best to do in this case, because you are not a stupid man. Either make up with her and be the man that you promised to be, or run. Fast. And far away, to a place where my GPS can't find you. How does Afghanistan sound to you?" _

Booth blinked his eyes in confusion a couple of times. That voicemail was Angela's; she never knew that he had made up with Brennan already. Oh well, Brennan was probably going to call her from the hospital anyway and tell her all about it in her own way of 'girl talk'. Booth grinned. Now he knew who was responsible for yesterday's flat tire in the Jeffersonian's parking lot. It did not surprise him. If someone was hurting Brennan, he would make sure that a minor delay for fixing a car would be the least of their problems.

Booth took a sip from the decaf coffee and made a face. "This is garbage!" He called out to no one in particular. He thoughts travelled back to Brennan, who had not had anything _real _to drink in months and he instantly felt bad. Okay, he could not allow her to have a shot of caffeine so short after a threatened miscarriage, but maybe he could buy her something slightly unhealthy to eat to compensate. Like those salted peanuts she loved so much, for instance! Booth thought about is as he waited for a traffic light to turn green. Once the cars around him sped up and he was torn from his thoughts by someone impatiently blowing the horn behind him, Booth reconsidered. Too much salt puts a strain on the kidneys!

Booth took a sip of his own black coffee. He enjoyed the bitter taste of it on his tongue and the way it always made him feel awake so quickly. Bones did deserve to sin a little sometimes, that would only be fair. Checking the nutrition labeling to the side of the coffee cup, Booth made another face as his eyes skimmed the tiny printed information. _Yeah, maybe not…_

* * *

><p><em>AllyH's Notes: You guys guessed right! Angela messed with Booth's tire! Or did she…?<em>

_This was a terrible chapter to write because it was so much! And a lot of nurse-y stuff. But honestly, I'm just anxious to get back to some more fluff and some of the other storylines I've got going on, like some more FBI trouble, Pop's possible dementia and some other tricks I've still got up my sleeve... Be afraid. Be very afraid, because I'm back, baby!_

_From now on, I will make a serious attempt to update at least once a week. Does that seem (just a little) fair to you? You're always welcome to leave me a review with any ideas, comments or remarks. You can also find me on Twitter as (at)AllysonHale. I may have been gone for a while, but I still don't bite…if I've been fed!_

_The next day: Brennan is staying at that lovely hospital and gets a surprise visitor. Is she happy to see him/her or will it be just another thing that gets out of hand? Also, are there any exciting results from Brennan's CBC? And when Booth comes to pick her up and take her home, will his overprotectiveness reach an even higher level or will Brennan not allow him to? _


	7. Week 13, day 5

**Jump Start **by AllysonH

_AllyH's note: Hello! It is 'happy' hiatus time again; that time when I always pop up again. Hope you enjoy this long-awaited new installment of Jump Start!_

* * *

><p><span>Week 13, day 5<span>

Brennan awoke to the sound of a chair scraping the floor. Sleepily opening her eyes, she saw her best friend standing on her tip toes, wincing at the sound as she had grabbed one of the folding chairs that were leaning against the plastered hospital wall. Carefully, she had tried to carry it over to Brennan's bed, but she had not been holding the chair up high enough. She quickly looked over to her friend, wishing she was still asleep, but she was already looking back at her with a questioning look on her face. "Hi," Brennan said, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned.

"Hey," Angela said, unfolding the chair and sitting down next to her friend. She looked at the crisp white sheets and noticed Brennan's broken arm resting on her belly. Her free arm had an IV tube attached to the wrist. Angela followed the line up to the bag of clear fluids, standing next to the bed on a standard. The bag was far from empty yet. She could not keep the worried expression off her face. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

Brennan attempted to push herself up straighter, with her right arm, but winced as the IV needle irritated the vein in her arm. "I'm doing a little better. The bleeding hasn't stopped, but I think it's getting less." She had spent all night going to the bathroom every thirty minutes to check, hoping each time to find that the bleeding had stopped permanently. So far, she had been disappointed each time.

Angela sighed and placed one of her hands on top of Brennan's sheets on her bed, close to her upper leg. "I'm glad to hear that," she then forced her eyes to look up to her best friend. "…but you've really got to take better care of yourself, Brennan. Not just for you, but for that fragile baby that you're carrying. You've seen more hospitals during this pregnancy than you've ever done before in your life!"

"That's not true! I've been to plenty of hospitals before! I've visited Booth during several injuries and you, after you had Michael…" her voice trailed off as she noticed the frustrated tilt of her best friend's head. "But I know what you mean. I have got to be more careful. I need to drink more and sit down more often."

Angela nodded her head. "Yes, you do." She then grabbed her purse from the ground and placed it on her lap. "I got you something." As she rummaged through her stuff, Brennan's mind went back to a time not too long ago. Less than half a year ago, it had been somebody else in this bed and Brennan standing beside it. _When you visit someone in the hospital, you have to bring a gift! _Brennan shook her head quickly. That had been one of the worst times in her life. She had come so close to losing Booth to someone else, forever.

Angela pulled out a thin package, giftwrapped in white glittery paper. "I hope you'll like it. I made it myself." Brennan accepted it gracefully, with a smile as Angela handed it over to her.

_Oh dear God, please don't let it be sunglasses. _"Thank you. I'm sure it's beautiful." Carefully, Brennan untucked the tape from the wrapping paper and pulled it back to reveal a white, wooden photo frame. Turning it around, she noticed there were three open spots for photographs. Two of them had already been filled with a picture. The one of the left showed Brennan herself, crouched down on a sandy area as she smiled and squinted her eyes at the sun. Brennan smiled. She had been at a dig somewhere, but she could not recall that particular one immediately. A photo of Booth was placed next to her own. He was standing in his office, looking in a file with one hand placed casually on his hip. His eyebrows were furrowed in a look of concentration, but he still looked friendly as ever. Just the way he is. Unconsciously, Brennan's fingers traced the contours of his body on the picture.

Right below the picture of Booth and Brennan was an empty space, marked with a brightly colored question mark. The dot of the question mark was blue. The rest was pink. "You're supposed to put a baby picture in there or an ultrasound print. Whatever you like," Angela explained. "I may have used too much pink, but that's because I'm really hoping that you'll have a girl." Brennan looked up questioningly. "Because, you know, there are enough men around with Hodgins, Booth, Sweets, interns and Michael. We need a girl to balance things out again."

A smile slowly spread across Brennan's face. "I think I might like to have a girl. Teach her things and do science experiments with her and my dad… Your gift is gorgeous, Ange. Thank you."

"You do know that you're just supposed to sing and make funny faces at her for the first couple of years, right?" Angela giggled as she leaned in to hug her friend.

When Brennan released her again and pulled back from the embrace, she was still smiling. "I'm sure that when I read to her from the anthropology magazine, Booth will make enough funny faces at her for the both of us."

The moment was interrupted by hurried footsteps skidding across the hall and suddenly entering the room without a knock or sound of warning. Angela and Brennan looked up at the unexpected visitor, who stared at them in alarm. "I came as soon as I heard. Oh Temperance, why didn't you tell me you were in a hospital? I was so worried!" Brennan was so flabbergasted by this sudden entrance of a second guest that she was unable to respond in time, to Sully pulling her in for a hug and kissing her forehead.

Stunned, Brennan looked up towards Angela, her mouth open to start an explanation, but words failed her. She raised an eyebrow and kept glancing from Brennan to Sully and back again. He was so "What happened? Did you get hurt?"

Brennan was still too caught up in staring at her best friend, almost with pleading eyes. She did not want this. She did not even want him to be here, on charted land, in the same country as her. He picked the worst time possible. Very slowly, she slid Angela's gift underneath the covers, so Sully would not see it.

"I think I'd better go…," Angela said, her voice trailing off. She got up from the chair and grabbed her bag.

"Uh, I will call you…later." Brennan said with a slight tilt of her head.

Angela nodded. "Yeah, you'd better." She forced a smile and walked out of the tiny room.

Brennan turned her attention back to Sully. He was looking her up and down in the bed, trying to find a single clue that would tell him what was wrong with her. He looked up at the IV bag and narrowed his eyes. "I'm just a little dehydrated," Brennan started.

Sully looked at her in disbelief. "Dehydrated? Do they admit you for that?"

Brennan thought for a while. She needed to be more clear with him. She tried to play around it, but it was not getting her anywhere and Booth was seeing this debacle with him as one big joke. "They do when you're twelve weeks pregnant."

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sully taking a step back in shock. "You are pregnant?" His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of its sockets.

"Yes," Brennan answered. "I started bleeding suddenly and dehydration has something to do with it. They're only keeping me here for a day to give me extra fluids and to make sure that the bleeding doesn't get any worse."

Sully slowly walked around the bed and sat down on what was previously Angela's chair. "Nobody told me you were seeing someone…"

Brennan fiddled with the cast around her arm. "I wasn't," she admitted.

"Who's the father, Temperance?"

Her head shot upwards. She could have expected that question, but she had not anticipated on a good answer. If she told the truth, Sully was sure to report it to his colleagues at the FBI and the partnership between her and Booth would be severed forever. However, what else could she say?

Sully leaned forward on his chair and reached for her hand, which Brennan retreated quickly. "Do you even know who the father is? Did something happen to you?"

"Of course not!" Brennan spoke rapidly. If anyone would try to harm her in any way, she would kick them down. She felt a bit offended that Sully apparently did not think her capable of defending herself. "I am fine, this happened in consent and I do know who the father is."

"Then tell me, please! Is it someone I know?" Brennan looked into Sully's pleading eyes. It would feel great to just tell him. Maybe then he would back the hell off, but she know that honesty in this case would come with a price that she was not sure she was willing to pay. The end of the partnership between her and Booth meant the end of them as a team. The end of a very successful collaboration. Her work would never be the same without Booth anymore.

"It doesn't matter."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because this is something I have to do alone. I want to do this alone. I don't need you or anyone else watching me, because I'm capable of making own choices!" Brennan paused to take a deep breath. "I need you to let me go. I can't be with you and neither do I want to."

For a moment, Sully appeared taken aback by her heartfelt confession, but he quickly regrouped. He got up from his chair and sat down on the bed instead, at her feet. "I know I'm not deserving of your trust right now. I have to earn it, by showing you that I really am here to stay this time. That's what I will do, Temperance." As Brennan looked at him, she did not know whether to start laughing or crying. "I'm going to prove to you that I want to be with you. And this baby."

"Please, listen to me! I want to do this alone. I don't need you!" Brennan really tried her hardest to reason with him, but he shushed her down.

"I know. You are strong and intelligent enough to make it alone, but I just don't want that for you. I will be there for you and this baby, if you need and even when you don't. Every child deserves to have a family." He tried to grab her hand again, but Brennan quickly pulled them back and shoved them underneath the covers, out of his reach.

"It will have a family, because it will have me," Brennan started.

"…And me," Sully added.

Brennan was exhausted and speechless at this point. She did not know what else to do anymore. "I need you to go. Booth is picking me up later and I want to get some sleep until he gets here." She bit the inside of her cheek hard after she spoke his name. Was she trying to get Sully to put the pieces of the puzzle together?

"Okay, I'll go. Rest is important when you're pregnant." Sully did not bite, much to Brennan's relief. He got up from the bed again and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, but Brennan turned her head away. Sully paused a few seconds before he decided to not push his luck any further and he retreated from the hospital bed. "I'll call you, okay?"

"No, don't," Brennan argued.

With a small smile and a nod of his head, Sully left.

* * *

><p>"You are standing there with that smug look on your face, but I promise you, it really isn't funny!" Brennan fumed as Booth helped her collect everything in her bag. He was amused as Brennan told him the story of Sully's visit and the arrogant smile that was plastered on his face, only served to piss her off even more.<p>

"I'm sorry, Bones, but it kind of is. Sully, wanting to be a devoted family man, it's the best joke I've heard in years!" He grabbed Brennan's coat from a hook against the wall and helped her put it on.

Brennan was just about ready to punch him somewhere where she know it would hurt. "This is not a joke, Booth! In his mind, he's already figured out that he's going to be a stand in father and marry me some day. That can't happen, because I'm with you already!" She tried to reason with him as she buttoned up her coat.

"So then we'll just tell him," Booth suggested easily.

Brennan sighed and slumped her shoulders. "And then he'll tell the FBI we're together, forcing them to split us up. For good this time, Booth."

Booth moved so that he was standing in front of Brennan. He grabbed the bag again and looked around Brennan's tiny hospital room to make sure they were not about to forget something. His eyes eventually rested on Brennan's tense form. "Look, Bones, I know it's inconvenient, but what else do you want me to do?"

Brennan folded her arms together. "I need you to fire Sully."

Booth grinned. "You know I'm not authorized to do that."

"Then convince him to leave," she replied. Her eyes had that determined look in them again that he loved so much, but even he knew that now was not a good time to try and kiss her.

Booth zipped up Brennan's overnight bag. "How would I do that, Bones? Buy him a new boat? Sully is a full-grown adult man. He makes his own decisions, not me for him and neither do you."

"But he's trying to take me away from you, without even knowing it. He's following me around everywhere, watching everything I do and now he knows I'm pregnant. It will only be a matter of time before everyone else at the FBI will find out too. Then there will be questions, especially from Agent Hacker, I would imagine."

"Bones," Booth cupped her cold hand with a warm one of his own. "We will find a way to get through this. We could say you got that donor after all and that you specifically chose to become a single mom, okay? We'll think of something."

Brennan's eyes met his. "But we decided we're going to be living together. The FBI will find out about it, just by looking us up—"

"I can use Hodgins' address." Booth interrupted her.

Brennan's mouth opened in surprise. "You've thought this through."

"Yes, I have," Booth said. "Don't act so shocked. I knew that if we both registered at the same address, the FBI would instantly put two and two together. Hodgins, even though he's a consultant like yourself, would be a safe place because there's no fraternizing involved. Just two buddies living together, watching a football game on Wednesday nights."

Booth's smile was starting to rub off on Brennan too. Sometimes he was just slightly more intelligent than she would give him credit for. Just slightly more. "And what about Angela and Michael? They live there too."

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "I am a guy suffering from a broken heart. Being a part of a family for a while could do me good."

It took Brennan a while to understand he was talking about his break-up with Hannah. She thought he had mentioned before that he was completely over her. Brennan felt annoyed at the stab of jealousy that she felt in her heart. He chose to commit to her now. Why feel threatened by something that happened in the past?

The doctor chose that moment to enter the room, with two medical students following in his trail. "Miss Brennan?"

Booth turned around and Brennan looked up. "Yes?"

"Before you go, I wanted to give you notice that your blood tests show that your iron levels are running a little low. I recommend you to adjust your diet a little bit. Eat fresh vegetables, beans and seeds, red meats…"

"I don't eat meat," Brennan immediately defended.

"Bones…, " Booth said in a warning tone. Of course, she never paid attention to what anyone said if it did not fit with her own perspectives, so why would she be any different now? Brennan shot him an annoyed glare that he was all too familiar with.

The doctor looked slightly taken aback, but recovered fairly quickly. "Oh, in that case, I might need to prescribe you some iron supplement, to prevent you from getting anemia. It's a condition that can cause dizziness and fainting spells, but also brings risks of premature delivery and low weight of the baby at birth."

Booth tried to take it all in. "Is it because she's lost so much blood in the past few days?"

The doctor shook his head. "No. Most likely it is a side-effect of her body adjusting to the pregnancy. More blood is needed for her and the baby, which requires a higher daily intake of iron. It is very common for women to develop anemia in pregnancy. Eating a sufficient amount of meat is a good source of iron that your body can absorb more readily than from non-animal sources."

"Alright," Booth nodded. "So she's going to get extra supplements and when we're home, I'll make her some home-made beef stew, I got it."

"If that's what's going to be for dinner, you'll be the only one eating it. I am not eating dead animals ever again," Brennan said with the conviction of a solid rock. Booth glared at her, but Brennan innocently looked past him and at the doctor.

The man coughed nervously. "Well, I will write you that prescription. You can pick it up at the front desk and make an appointment for a checkup in two weeks, alright?"

Brennan agreed and watched as the doctor left, along with his mute interns. She quickly changed her attention back to Booth. "I promise you, I will not be eating that stew!"

Booth straightened his shoulders. "Yes, you will, or I will not touch you anymore until after this pregnancy, when I know for sure that I won't damage any more of you."

Brennan noticed the devilish glint in his eyes as he spoke and she lifted her chin up higher, defiantly. "Then when you serve it, I will accidentally drop my bowl on the floor. You can't make a pregnant woman eat off the floor."

"But I sure as hell can make you clean it, with your tooth brush."

"No, you can't. One of my arms is broken and I'd need one for balance and the other for cleaning. Also, the fumes can be toxic for our baby."

Booth smiled as he thought about their baby. He looked at her belly, but the shirt she was wearing covered it all up. "Damn," he replied, making Brennan smile too. "Okay, so no stew. How about some fish, huh? Fish is very good for the heart and some other necessary stuff that I forgot."

Booth zipped up his own coat and grabbed Brennan's bag, before he slung it over his shoulder. He walked out of the room ahead of her and he grinned as he heard her argue behind him: "No Booth, I said 'no dead animals'."

"A fish is not an animal; it's a fish!"

"It lives and it breathes, Booth. It's an animal."

"It won't anymore, after I've cooked it…" The left the hospital bickering like they always did. Thankfully, no matter what happened to them, some things would never change. People watched in curiosity as they walked through the hallways, raising their voices at each other playfully, like nobody else was there at all.

And that night, they did eat stew…but without any meat or fish.

* * *

><p><em>Ally H's Note: You can't buh-lieve how happy I am to have this chapter over and done with. It's been bothering me for months. I didn't REALLY have any inspiration until halfway through. I'm sorry for the delay on this one. Lots of family troubles in the past few months and I've modeled in Spain for a long time. Now I'm back, with new ideas and twists for this story!<em>

_Anyway, you want to know what's next: There is a new case at a dance competition for professionals and Brennan wants to go, but we all know how happy Booth will be about that. Speaking of Booth, he'll receive a distressed phone call from Hank's nursing home… _

_For all your fanfic updates, follow me on Twitter as AllysonHale. For all your personal love, critiques and suggestions, drop them on Twitter at TwoHaleTwins (in case you didn't know: I'm a twin). The latter is my 'social' account and I share it with my sister. Don't be afraid, she's even more naughty than I am AND sometimes I post previews on our blog…_


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